Revised return filed before assessment completion can prevent penalty where the tax due is paid on time.

Penalty under section 12(5) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 was not leviable where the assessee filed a revised return before completion of assessment and paid the tax due on that revised return within time. The defect in the original return was corrected during the assessment process, so the earlier return could not be treated as attracting penalty merely because revision became necessary on scrutiny. The operative principle is that timely revision and prompt payment of the disclosed tax defeat levy of penalty on these facts, and cancellation of the penalty was sustained.

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Issues: Whether penalty was leviable under section 12(5) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 when the assessee filed a revised return before completion of the assessment and paid the tax due thereon in time.

Analysis: The defect in the original return was rectified by filing a revised statement before the assessment was completed. The tax due on the revised return was also paid in time. On these facts, the earlier return could not be treated as attracting penalty merely because a revised return became necessary during scrutiny.

Conclusion: Penalty was not exigible under section 12(5) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and cancellation of the penalty was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessee files a revised return before completion of assessment and pays the tax due thereon in time, penalty is not leviable under section 12(5).

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