Penalty under section 270A is examined in light of whether...

Penalty under section 270A is examined in light of whether liability arises from under-reporting or misreporting. The tribunal emphasises that under-reporting requires a settled legal obligation to report income; where survey occurs before year end and the return is filed within prescribed time with accepted returned income, under-reporting is absent and penalty cannot be sustained. Misreporting conditions must be specifically fulfilled before invoking that limb; absence of specification and failure to meet misreporting criteria render the penalty unsustainable, with a binding Gujarat HC ratio relied upon.

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