Discretionary penalty for foreign asset non-disclosure rejected where omission was bona fide and funds were fully disclosed.

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....Penalty under section 43 of the Black Money Act is discretionary, because the word "may" and the requirement of hearing before levy show that non-disclosure of a foreign asset does not automatically attract punishment. Applying the bona fide omission principle, the Tribunal noted that the foreign investment was funded from disclosed mutual fund redemption proceeds remitted through a disclosed bank account under the LRS route, with related income or loss already reported in returns. As there was no undisclosed foreign income, no out-of-books asset, and no mala fide conduct, the failure to complete the relevant Schedule FA disclosure was treated as a technical and venial breach, and the penalties were deleted.....