TMI Blog1995 (11) TMI 390X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pondents under section 10(7) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act?" The above question arises out of the following facts: M/s. Dasaunda Singh Waryam Singh, assessee (hereinafter referred to as "the assessee") filed four quarterly returns for the assessment year 1970-71 under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as "the Punjab Act"), showing the total turnover of Rs. 1,28,307.62. It was detected that with the Department of Income-tax, the assessee had shown the total turnover of his business at Rs. 4,98,515.46. When confronted with this situation, the assessee filed a revised statement of accounts disclosing his gross turnover at Rs. 4,98,515.46 as against the return figure of Rs. 1,28,307.62. Taking the gross ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assessee was not accepted. Revisional authority held that the order passed by the Assessing Authority suffered from impropriety inasmuch as the penalty under section 10(7) of the Punjab Act has not been imposed. Case was remanded to the Assessing Authority with a direction to initiate proceedings under section 10(7) of the Punjab Act and finalise the same on merits. Assessee, being aggrieved against the order of the revisional authority, filed an appeal before the Tribunal. Tribunal accepted the appeal filed by the assessee and held that the revisional authority could not travel beyond the proceedings of the Assessing Authority. Since, the penalty proceedings had not been initiated by the Assessing Authority, revisional authority did not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to invoke the revisional powers under this sub-section." A close scrutiny of section 40(1) would show that the revisional authority can call for the record of any case pending or disposed of for the purposes of satisfying himself as to the legality or to the propriety of any proceedings or of any order made therein and may thereafter proceed to pass such order in relation thereto as he deems fit. The case of the assessee is that the assessment proceedings and the penalty proceedings are two independent and distinct proceedings and since the Assessing Authority did not initiate the proceedings for imposing the penalty, the revisional authority could not proceed either to levy the penalty for the first time or remand the case to the Assessi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... udgment assessment under section 12(2) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, did not pass an order levying penalty under section 12(3) and also did not propose to invoke that power even in the pre-assessment notice, the Deputy Commissioner, in exercise of his power of revision under section 32, could not independently invoke that power under section 12(3) and seek to levy penalty." The Gujarat High Court has also taken the same view in a case reported in Bhavnagar Chemical Works (1946) Ltd. v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Ahmedabad [1991] 83 STC 409, and held as under: "Penalty proceedings are independent and distinct from assessment proceedings. If the original authority has expressly or impliedly not at all exercised its penalt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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