Cash receipt penalty under section 269ST fails without proof of the prohibited receipt mode and statutory threshold.

Penalty for alleged breach of section 269ST could not be sustained where the order failed to record that the cash receipt met the statutory mode of prohibited receipt, namely receipt of two lakh rupees or more in aggregate from a person in a day, in a single transaction, or for one event or occasion. Mere reference to cash sales during the year was insufficient without findings on the specific manner of receipt required by the provision. The section 271DA penalty was therefore deleted.

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Issues: Whether penalty imposed under section 271DA for alleged contravention of section 269ST was sustainable when the order did not record findings that the cash receipt exceeded the statutory threshold in a single day, single transaction, or one event or occasion.

Analysis: Section 269ST is attracted only where receipt of two lakh rupees or more occurs in aggregate from a person in a day, in respect of a single transaction, or in respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion. The penalty order proceeded only on the basis that cash sales of ten lakh rupees were admitted during the year, but it did not establish the specific manner of receipt required to constitute a violation. In the absence of recorded facts showing that the statutory conditions were met, the penalty could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The penalty under section 271DA was not justified and was deleted; the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Penalty for violation of section 269ST cannot be sustained unless the authority records and proves the specific statutory mode of prohibited cash receipt.

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