Mandatory statutory penalty for missing transport documents cannot be reduced below the prescribed minimum.

A fiscal transport-document requirement under the Karnataka Value Added Tax framework obliged the person in charge of goods to carry the prescribed delivery note in Form VAT505. Where the consignment was not accompanied by that document and no sufficient cause was shown, the statutory penalty under section 53(12)(a)(ii) operated in mandatory terms. The provision did not confer discretion to reduce the penalty below the statutory minimum, so neither the assessing authority nor the Tribunal could substitute a lesser amount in the absence of a recognised statutory basis.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to reduce the penalty imposed under section 53(12)(a)(ii) of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003, and whether the non-carrying of the delivery note in Form VAT505 justified reduction of the penalty.

Analysis: Section 53(2) required the owner or person in charge of the goods vehicle to carry the prescribed documents, and rule 157(1) prescribed the delivery note in Form VAT505. On the admitted facts, the consignment was not accompanied by the prescribed delivery note and no sufficient cause was shown before the check-post authority. Section 53(12)(a)(ii) fixed the penalty structure in mandatory terms and did not confer discretion to impose a lesser penalty or to reduce it below the statutory minimum. The Tribunal therefore could not interfere with the quantum of penalty by invoking discretion where the statute did not permit it.

Conclusion: The Tribunal had no power to reduce the penalty below the statutory minimum under section 53(12)(a)(ii), and the penalty as imposed was liable to be restored.

Final Conclusion: The revision was allowed and the Tribunal's order reducing the penalty was set aside, resulting in restoration of the original statutory penalty.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a fiscal provision prescribes a minimum mandatory penalty for non-compliance with a statutory transport-document requirement, neither the assessing authority nor the appellate tribunal can reduce the penalty below the statutory minimum in the absence of a statutorily recognized basis.

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