Confiscation of plant, machinery and property set aside where no mala fide was found and penalties had been deleted.

Where no mala fide was found against the assessee and the related penalties had already been set aside, there was no basis to sustain confiscation of the land and building, plant and machinery. The Tribunal also noted that the earlier order had not finally decided the confiscation issue. On reconsideration, it held that the confiscation and the consequential redemption fine could not be continued and set both aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether confiscation of land and building, plant and machinery, along with the redemption fine, was liable to be sustained.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that the earlier order had left the question of confiscation undecided. On reconsideration, it noted that no mala fide was found against the appellant and that the penalties had already been set aside. In that context, there was no justification for continuing the confiscation of the land and building, plant and machinery.

Conclusion: The confiscation and the consequential redemption fine were set aside in favour of the assessee.

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