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2018 (5) TMI 1333 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxInput tax credit - penalty u/s 12(7) of GVAT Act - the assessee had deliberately claimed excess tax credit, which exhibited the malafide intentions on the part of the assessee - assessee was of the opinion that it was discretionary upon the assessing authority whether to levy penalty or not and if he desired to levy penalty, then at a rate not exceeding 200% of the wrongly claimed tax credit - Held that: - merely because a breach is established, it would not be compulsory for the Commissioner to impose the penalty. After giving an opportunity to the dealer of being heard, if the Commissioner is satisfied that it is not a fit case for imposition of penalty, then he may express such an opinion in his order by citing reasons. The discretion of the Commissioner in the matter of imposing penalty would extend even on the choice of the penalty to be imposed, of course, up to a maximum of twice the value of the wrongly claimed tax credit. The Statute has neither made it compulsory for the Commissioner to impose penalty once the breach is established nor has made the quantum of penalty mandatory. As is well-known, various fiscal penal statutes, either prescribe a range of penalty from which the competent authority may chose or may provide a minimum penalty below which the competent authority cannot travel. Petition dismissed.
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