https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=156776 Section 45A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act was upheld as a valid penal measure against tax evasion, because the expressions "evaded" and "sought to be evaded" were read as importing mens rea and the evidentiary burden in the Explanation was treated as having a rational nexus with preventing evasion. The constitutional challenge under Article 14 therefore failed. However, penalty under the provision is quasi-criminal and discretionary, so the authority must assess the gravity of the default on the material before it. Imposition of the maximum penalty mechanically, without reasons showing why such severity was warranted, was held unsustainable and the penalty orders were quashed and remitted. en-us Fri, 03 May 1991 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 24 Sep 2013 16:56:58 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=156776 Section 45A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act was upheld as a valid penal measure against tax evasion, because the expressions "evaded" and "sought to be evaded" were read as importing mens rea and the evidentiary burden in the Explanation was treated as having a rational nexus with preventing evasion. The constitutional challenge under Article 14 therefore failed. However, penalty under the provision is quasi-criminal and discretionary, so the authority must assess the gravity of the default on the material before it. Imposition of the maximum penalty mechanically, without reasons showing why such severity was warranted, was held unsustainable and the penalty orders were quashed and remitted. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Fri, 03 May 1991 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=156776