https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=158529 Penalty proceedings under section 45A require a fair and effective opportunity to meet the case, especially where seized accounts and documents remain withheld when the show-cause notice is issued and the reply is filed. Mere permission to inspect or copy the records did not cure the defect because the assessee was unable to fully answer the proposed penalty without access to the original material. The High Court found the decision-making process unfair and held that denial of a further opportunity after perusal of the seized records vitiated the penalty order, which was consequently quashed in favour of the assessee. en-us Thu, 15 Jun 1995 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 30 Oct 2013 15:17:55 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=158529 Penalty proceedings under section 45A require a fair and effective opportunity to meet the case, especially where seized accounts and documents remain withheld when the show-cause notice is issued and the reply is filed. Mere permission to inspect or copy the records did not cure the defect because the assessee was unable to fully answer the proposed penalty without access to the original material. The High Court found the decision-making process unfair and held that denial of a further opportunity after perusal of the seized records vitiated the penalty order, which was consequently quashed in favour of the assessee. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Thu, 15 Jun 1995 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=158529