" ..................An order imposing penalty for failure to
carry out a statutory obligation is the result of a quasi criminal proceedings
and penalty will not ordinarily be imposed unless the party obliged either
acted deliberately in defiance of law or was guilty of conduct contumacious or
dishonest or acted in concious disregard of its obligation. Penalty will also
not be imposed because it is lawful to do so. Whether penalty should be imposed
for failure to perform a statutory obligation is a matter of discretion of the
authority to be exercised judicially and on a consideration of all the relevant
circumstances. Even if minimum penalty is prescribed , the authority competent
to impose penalty will be justified in refusing to impose penalty, when there is
technical or venial breach of the provisions of the Act or where the breach
flows from a bonafide belief that the offender is not liable to act in the
manner prescribed by the statute......."
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