Good-faith reliance on statutory records defeats penalty when no collusion or intentional wrongdoing is alleged.

A penalty on a Deputy Commissioner for issuing end-use certificates based on statutory records could not be sustained where there was no specific allegation of collusion or deliberate wrongdoing. The Tribunal noted that the officer acted in her official capacity and relied on the assessee's statutory records, and it was not enough to complain that other records were not independently verified. As the act was done in good faith on official records, statutory protection for such conduct applied, and penal or disciplinary consequence was unwarranted. The impugned penalty order was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether penalty could be sustained on a Deputy Commissioner for issuance of end-use certificates based on statutory records, in the absence of any specific allegation of collusion or deliberate wrongdoing.

Analysis: The appellant had issued the end-use certificates in her official capacity after relying on the assessee's statutory records. The record did not contain any specific allegation that she had colluded with the assessee or that she had deliberately facilitated the alleged evasion. The adjudicating authority's grievance was confined to the extent of verification undertaken, but the Tribunal held that a disciplinary or penal consequence could not follow merely because some other records were not independently checked, especially when the officer acted in good faith on official records. The Tribunal further relied on the statutory protection available to officers for acts done in good faith.

Conclusion: The penalty could not be sustained against the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The impugned penalty order was set aside and the appeal was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: An official who acts in good faith on statutory records, without any specific allegation of collusion or intentional wrongdoing, is entitled to statutory protection and cannot be penalised merely because additional verification was not undertaken.

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