Section 135 of GST Act: Presumption of culpable mental state

Amended and updated notes on section 135 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to presumption of culpable mental state.

Amended and updated notes on section 135 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to presumption of culpable mental state.

Chapter XIX (Sections 122138) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with the provisions related to offences and penalties. Section 135 of CGST 2017 provides for presumption of culpable mental state.

Recently, we have discussed in detail section 134 (Cognizance of offences) of CGST Act 2017. Today, we learn the provisions of section 135 of Central GST Act 2017.

Section 135 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 has been notified by the Ministry of Finance vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017. This notification was come into force from 1st July, 2017 i.e. the commencement date of section 135 is 1-7-2017.

Name of ActThe Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017
Enacted byParliament of India
Administered byCentral Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
Governing bodyGST Council
Number of Chapters21
Number of Sections174
You are reading:
Chapter No.XIX
Chapter NameOffences and Penalties
Section No.135
Section NamePresumption of culpable mental state
Updated 2024 EditionGST Law Book PDF

Section 135 of Central GST – Presumption of culpable mental state1

Section 135 of CGST Act 2017 shall come into force on 01.07.2017 vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017.

In any prosecution for an offence under this Act which requires a culpable mental state on the part of the accused, the court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an offence in that prosecution.

Explanation: For the purposes of this section, ––

  • (i) the expression “culpable mental state” includes intention, motive, knowledge of a fact, and belief in, or reason to believe, a fact;
  • (ii) a fact is said to be proved only when the court believes it to exist beyond reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponderance of probability
  1. Section 135 of CGST Act 2017 shall come into force on 01.07.2017 vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017. ↩︎


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