Penalty orders set aside where import declaration had only formal defects and no finding of intentional tax evasion

HC upheld the Tribunal's decision setting aside penalty orders where the assessing authority recorded only formal inadequacies in import declarations but made no finding of intent to evade tax. Because no specific finding of fraudulent or intentional tax evasion existed, penalties could not be sustained. The HC dismissed the revision petition for lack of merit, leaving the Tribunal's order intact.

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Revenue filed revision against the Commercial Tax Tribunal's order quashing penalty orders (A.Y. 2008-09) imposed solely for clerical deficiencies in two Import Declaration Forms/Form 38 - one with column 6 left blank and the other found blank. The assessing authority recorded no finding of "intention to evade tax"; penalties were imposed merely for the noted inadequacies. The Tribunal, relying on precedent (including Ram Pulses v. State of U.P. and The Commissioner Commercial Tax U.P. v. Deepak Trading Company), held that "in absence of any specific finding as intention to evade tax, the penalty cannot be justified." Because there was no finding of deliberate tax evasion, the Tribunal's order was upheld and the revision was dismissed for lack of merit.

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