the above referred section permits the commissioner to impose on a dealer a penalty of Rs 5000/-, for non-filing of returns till prescribed date [ late filing ], without offering him the opportunity of being heard, further no appeal can lie against the order to any superior or any court of law as stated in section 85, which provides for bar to certain proceedings. The said penalty is levied irrespective of the fact as whether the tax is paid or not. means even if taxes are paid in time but returns are not filed, the commissioner gets an authority to impose penalty.
Whether this is constitutional? If it is challenged as a principle in the High Court, what would the possible judgement be? In recent past, Karnatak HC struck down a sort of similar of provision under the KVAT Act.
Experts, please provide your view points as I am thinking of challenging it.
