Penalties
• For procedural and technical lapses not causing loss in revenue, there should be no penalty or punitive action. (Where are we? Who is penalized for technical lapses?)
• New entrepreneur should be dealt with leniently while imposing penalties. Similar approach should be adopted while levying penalties for violation of new levies. There should be specific provisions in law to this effect. (This is certainly a very valid suggestion. Is the converse true?)
• Release of seized goods should be made mandatory in all cases. In cases release of goods is refused, it should be accompanied with a written rationale for non-release of goods. (is there any assessee who could not get his goods released? In fact the department has no machinery to maintain seized goods and they are almost always released provisionally)
• Only in blatant evasion cases (monetary limit of Rs 1 crore or above), the officers should resort to arrest of the assessee where sufficient documentary evidence is available. (Even in such cases no arrest is being made. How many persons were arrested in the last one year for an offence under Central Excise ?)
• Circumstances warranting arrest should be publicized widely so that in non-deserving cases, there is no threat or fear of arrest to the assessee. This will go a long way in preventing the mis-use of these provisions. (This is an excellent recommendation. In most cases, more than the arrest, it is threat of arrest which is more dreaded than the arrest itself. Recently a Service Tax assessee was threatened with arrest, when there is no provision for arrest under the Service Tax laws.)