https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=212666 Penalty for failure to file an audit report within the prescribed time under section 61(2) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 is discretionary, because the provision uses "may" and requires a reasonable opportunity of hearing before penalty is imposed. The assessing authority must consider the dealer's explanation and decide whether it is genuine and bona fide; penalty cannot follow automatically from default alone. Where the original authority gives no reasons for rejecting the explanation and the appellate authority proceeds on the mistaken view that consideration of the explanation is unnecessary, fresh consideration is required. The matter was remanded for reconsideration after examining the assessee's explanation. en-us Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 03 May 2014 15:27:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=212666 Penalty for failure to file an audit report within the prescribed time under section 61(2) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 is discretionary, because the provision uses "may" and requires a reasonable opportunity of hearing before penalty is imposed. The assessing authority must consider the dealer's explanation and decide whether it is genuine and bona fide; penalty cannot follow automatically from default alone. Where the original authority gives no reasons for rejecting the explanation and the appellate authority proceeds on the mistaken view that consideration of the explanation is unnecessary, fresh consideration is required. The matter was remanded for reconsideration after examining the assessee's explanation. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=212666