The appellant's appeal was allowed by the Appellate Tribunal,...

The appellant's appeal was allowed by the Appellate Tribunal, and the penalty imposed u/s 78 of the Finance Act, 1994, was set aside. It was held that when an assessee admits and discharges the service tax liability along with interest before the issuance of a show cause notice, it demonstrates a reasonable cause for non-payment, and the case stands closed u/s 73(3) of the Act. Since the appellant recorded the entire transaction in their books and paid the tax liability and interest without any mala fide intention, invoking Sections 73(3) and 80 of the Act, the penalty was rightly set aside.