https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=376687 Penalty under Section 45A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act was considered unsustainable where it was imposed only for failure to respond to summons seeking books of account. The court noted that there was no prior finding of non-registration or proved tax evasion, and the underlying liability of hospitals to registration and sales tax on medicines and consumables was itself a debatable issue. A civil penalty may follow without mens rea in appropriate cases, but only when the invoked provisions fit the established conduct. On the facts found, the matter should have been pursued through registration or assessment proceedings, not penalty. en-us Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 15 Mar 2019 07:49:45 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=376687 Penalty under Section 45A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act was considered unsustainable where it was imposed only for failure to respond to summons seeking books of account. The court noted that there was no prior finding of non-registration or proved tax evasion, and the underlying liability of hospitals to registration and sales tax on medicines and consumables was itself a debatable issue. A civil penalty may follow without mens rea in appropriate cases, but only when the invoked provisions fit the established conduct. On the facts found, the matter should have been pursued through registration or assessment proceedings, not penalty. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=376687