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TMI Blog2015 (5) TMI 563X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with “offence” as defined under the General Clauses Act, 1897. It is clear that the fine imposed under section 70(5) of the said act is for an “offence” as defined under Section 3(38) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 which shall be tried by the court of criminal jurisdiction in accordance with section 26(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The commissioner or its delegates do not have power or jurisdiction to impose such fine. Thus, the impugned notices are liable to be quashed on the ground of jurisdiction alone. - Decided in favour of assessee. - W.P.(C) 2214/2013 & CM Nos. 4220/2013, 5669/2013, W.P.(C) 2919/2013 & CM No.5497/2013 - - - Dated:- 14-10-2014 - Badar Durrez Ahmed And Siddharth Mridul,JJ. For the Petitione ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... alf of the petitioners further states that the power to punish is a judicial power which can only be exercised by a court. It is argued that when Section 70(5) of the said Act uses the expression punishable with fine , it leads to only one conclusion that only the court of competent jurisdiction, and no other person, can take cognizance of the offence. It is further argued that, fine as an expression used under section 70(5) of the said Act, cannot have a different interpretation. The expressions fine and penalty are not interchangeable. 5. The learned counsel on behalf of the petitioners further contends that when the expression fine does not find any specific mention in the provisions relating to recovery/special mode of recov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sions are considered for effective adjudication:- 11. Section 70(5) of the said act reads as under: 70(5) Failure to comply with a requirement in a notification may be punishable with fine provided that the amount of the fine does not exceed ten thousand rupees or such other amount as may be prescribed. (Underlining added) 12. The expression punishable with fine as stated in section 70 (5) of the said Act draws our attention to Section 3(38) of the General Clauses Act, 1897 which reads as under: 3(38) offence shall mean any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force. (Underlining added) 13. A bare reading of Section 3(38) of the General Clauses Act,1897, reveals that the expression puni ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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