Admitted delay in service tax payment did not justify further penalty reduction after prior appellate scaling down.

Delayed payment of service tax was admitted and continued for about five to six months. As the applicable legal position had already been settled by a Larger Bench and the appellate authority had already reduced the penalty from the original amount, no further interference with the quantum of penalty was warranted. The appeal was therefore rejected and the reduced penalty under section 76 was sustained without further reduction.

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Issues: Whether the penalty imposed for delayed payment of service tax under section 76 required further reduction.

Analysis: The delay in payment was admitted and had continued for about five to six months. The applicable legal position had already been settled by the Larger Bench, and the penalty had been reduced by the appellate authority from the original amount. On these facts, no further interference with the quantum of penalty was warranted.

Conclusion: The appeal was rejected and the penalty was sustained without further reduction.

Ratio Decidendi: Where delay in payment of service tax is admitted and the penalty has already been scaled down in accordance with the settled legal position, further reduction in penalty is not justified.

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