Mandatory statutory penalty for delayed tax payment upheld; no prior hearing required where levy is automatic.

Section 24(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act was upheld as valid because the penalty for delayed payment of assessed tax arises automatically on default and is fixed by statute, leaving no discretion to the assessing authority. As the levy is mandatory rather than adjudicatory, the absence of a prior opportunity of hearing does not invalidate the provision. The court distinguished discretionary penalty regimes under the Income-tax Act, noting that such comparison does not apply where the statutory penalty is automatic. The assessee's constitutional and procedural challenge therefore failed, and no relief was granted on this ground.

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Issues: Whether section 24(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act is invalid for not providing a prior opportunity of hearing before levy of penalty for delayed payment of assessed tax.

Analysis: The penalty under section 24(3) is attracted automatically where the assessed tax is not paid within the prescribed time. The provision fixes the quantum of penalty by statute and leaves no discretion to the assessing authority to waive or vary it on the facts of a particular case. Since the levy is mandatory and not dependent on an adjudicatory choice, the absence of a prior hearing does not render the provision illegal. The contrast drawn with section 274(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 does not assist the petitioner because that provision operates in a discretionary penalty regime, unlike section 24(3).

Conclusion: Section 24(3) is valid and enforceable; the challenge fails and the assessee is not entitled to relief on this ground.

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