The High Court held that for imposing penalty u/s 10(d) of the Central Sales Tax Act, the existence of mens rea (culpable mental state) must be established. Merely defaulting on the conditions enabling levy of penalty u/s 10(d) does not automatically attract penalty. The Department must prove that the assessee did not have reasonable cause for the default. In the present case, the revisionist had produced an engineer's certificate, discharging the burden of reasonable cause. As the necessary ingredients for levy of penalty were neither alleged nor proved, the order of penalty was quashed by the High Court in favor of the revisionist.
The High Court held that for imposing penalty u/s 10(d) of the Central Sales Tax Act, the existence of mens rea (culpable mental state) must be established. Merely defaulting on the conditions enabling levy of penalty u/s 10(d) does not automatically attract penalty. The Department must prove that the assessee did not have reasonable cause for the default. In the present case, the revisionist had produced an engineer's certificate, discharging the burden of reasonable cause. As the necessary ingredients for levy of penalty were neither alleged nor proved, the order of penalty was quashed by the High Court in favor of the revisionist.
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