Tribunal upholds deletion of penalty imposed by Revenue, citing lack of distinguishing features.

The Tribunal dismissed the Revenue's appeal against the deletion of a penalty of Rs. 8 crore imposed under section 271(1)(c) of the Act for Assessment Year 2008-09. The CIT(A) had deleted the penalty after the Assessing Officer disallowed a deduction claimed by the assessee. The Tribunal noted a similar penalty imposed for the preceding year was also deleted, finding no distinguishing feature for the current year. Therefore, the Tribunal upheld the decision to delete the penalty, affirming the CIT(A)'s order.

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Issues:
Penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Act for Assessment Year 2008-09.

Analysis:
The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the order of the CIT(A) deleting the penalty of Rs. 8 crore imposed by the Assessing Officer under section 271(1)(c) of the Act for the Assessment Year 2008-09. The assessee had claimed a deduction of Rs. 22.93 crore under the head 'Power purchase price' without debiting it to the Profit & Loss Account, citing additional power purchased due to an increase in demand. The Assessing Officer disallowed this deduction and imposed a penalty. However, the CIT(A) deleted the penalty.

Upon review, it was noted that a penalty under similar circumstances was imposed on the assessee for the preceding assessment year 2007-08, which was subsequently deleted by the Tribunal. The Tribunal found no distinguishing feature for the current year compared to the previous year, as per the precedent set in the earlier decision. Consequently, the Tribunal upheld the order deleting the penalty.

In conclusion, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue, affirming the decision to delete the penalty. The judgment was delivered on 28th March 2017 by Shri R.S. Syal and Ms. Suchitra Kamble, JJ.

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