Samadhan Certificate bars further penalty for arrears already settled under the settlement scheme, leaving later orders without jurisdiction.

Penalty could not be initiated or continued once arrears were settled under the Madhya Pradesh Bakaya Rashi Saral Samadhan Yojna, 2002 and a Samadhan Certificate was issued. The scheme covered outstanding tax, penalty and interest arrears up to 31 March 1997, and clause 7 barred further penal action after disposal under the scheme. Because the later penalty orders related to liabilities already covered by the certificate and not to any separate concealed turnover or independent default, the authority lacked jurisdiction to levy penalty on the settled arrears.

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Issues: Whether penalty could be levied after issuance of the Samadhan Certificate under the Madhya Pradesh Bakaya Rashi Saral Samadhan Yojna, 2002, in respect of arrears covered by the scheme.

Analysis: The scheme applied to outstanding tax, penalty and interest arrears relating to periods ending up to 31 March 1997, and clause 7 stated that no penal action against an applicant would be initiated once the case was disposed of under the scheme. The petitioner's arrears for commercial tax, entry tax and Central sales tax for 1996-97 were settled on payment under the scheme, and a certificate was issued declaring that no penalty would be levied. The subsequent penalty orders were founded on the very liability already covered by the certificate, and not on any independent concealed turnover or separate default. In these circumstances, the authority had no jurisdiction to initiate or continue penal proceedings for the settled arrears.

Conclusion: Penalty could not be levied in respect of the liabilities covered by the Samadhan Certificate, and the impugned penalty orders were without jurisdiction.

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