Penalty under section 43 of the Black Money Act is...

Penalty under section 43 of the Black Money Act is discretionary, because the word "may" and the requirement of hearing before levy show that non-disclosure of a foreign asset does not automatically attract punishment. Applying the bona fide omission principle, the Tribunal noted that the foreign investment was funded from disclosed mutual fund redemption proceeds remitted through a disclosed bank account under the LRS route, with related income or loss already reported in returns. As there was no undisclosed foreign income, no out-of-books asset, and no mala fide conduct, the failure to complete the relevant Schedule FA disclosure was treated as a technical and venial breach, and the penalties were deleted.

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