9911796707
TMI Blog1982 (11) TMI 151X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , to 30th September, 1973, second return on 31st January, 1974, for the period from 1st October, 1973 to 31st December, 1973, and the third and the last one on 30th April, 1974, for the period from 1st January, 1974, to 31st March, 1974. The petitioner, however, filed all the three returns together on 30th December, 1974. He had also not deposited the sales tax for the given period. The Assessing Authority acting under section 46 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), imposed penalty at the rate of Rs. 8 per day and the final amount that became payable along with the interest and penalty of Rs. 250 under section 47 came to Rs. 9,567. Mr. Narula confined himself to the challenging of the vires of s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... easury or bank. A reference to section 25(2) would then show that every registered dealer is bound to furnish the sales tax returns by such dates and to such authority as may be prescribed and along therewith he must attach the receipt for the amount of tax deposited. No detailed reference is necessary to sub-section (4) of section 25, which pertains to the filing of the revised returns which may become necessary on the discovery of any omission or error in an earlier return. The material provision herein then is sub-section (5), which penalises the failure to pay the tax as required by the further condition that such default would involve the payment of simple interest therefor at the rates specified. As is plain, section 46 then separatel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hand, to an inadvertent, honest or an unavoidable omission to do so on the other. Amongst the wide gamut of penal provisions, I am unable to recall any which does not leave a reasonable discretion to the authority concerned for its imposition. In terms, the argument on behalf of the petitioner appears to be that no discretion at all should be granted to the Commissioner with regard to the quantum of the penalty and the same should either be laid down expressly by the legislature itself or be governed by a mathematically precise formula. This is neither possible nor desirable. The learned counsel for the respondent-State on an analogy of the criminal law rightly pointed out to the widest discretion vested by the Penal Code to impose punishme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng liabilities, it is for the defaulting dealer to make a proper move for stopping the same by approaching the concerned authorities and by showing reasons why the liability should stop running." I entirely concur in the above enunciation of law on the point. What is more, in this case, the petitioner appeared thrice before the Assessing Authority and took adjournments after noting down dates but on the final date of hearing neither filed any explanation showing any reasonable cause nor appeared either personally or through his duly authorised representative and so it is not open to him to take the plea of the above kind. For the reasons aforementioned, I dismiss this petition. Since the petitioner has utilised for his own use a sum o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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