TMI Blog1997 (5) TMI 36X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (briefly " the Act "), as it stood in the assessment year 1974-75 relevant for the purpose of the case, provides that where an employer makes default in the payment of any contribution to the fund, the Central Provident Fund Commissioner or such other officer as may be authorised by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette in this behalf may recover from the employer by way of penalty such damages, not exceeding the amount of arrears as it may deem fit to impose. The Appellate Tribunal found that the Income-tax Officer disallowed a sum of Rs. 19,081 with the remarks : " Penalty of Rs. 19,081 relevant to previous year and not related to this year under consideration, as the liabi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bject of imposition of penalty under section 14B is not merely ' to provide compensation for the employees '. We are clearly of the opinion that the imposition of damages under section 14B serves both the purposes. It is meant to penalise defaulting employers as also to provide reparation for the amount of loss suffered by the employees. It is not only a warning to employers in general not to commit a breach of the statutory requirements of section 6, but at the same time it is meant to provide compensation or redress to the beneficiaries, i.e., to recompense the employees for the loss sustained by them . . . . . ." " The question whether any such impost is in essence compensatory or is by way of penalty will have to be decided having reg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s [1979] 55 FJR 283 that such damages bear a twin character, inasmuch as they are made to provide compensation and also at the same time to penalise the defaulters. Therefore, it was the duty of the Appellate Tribunal to record a clear finding as to how much amount of the claim made by the assessee can be apportioned towards compensation and towards penalty. This has not been done by the Appellate Tribunal and, therefore, we have no option but to remand the matter to the Appellate Tribunal to record a clear finding as to how much amount of the claim of Rs. 19,081 is in the nature of compensation and how much amount is attributable to penalty. In the result, we remit the aforementioned question to the Appellate Tribunal without recording a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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