HOTEL DARPAN vs SUB-DVNL. MAGISTRATE, MUSSOORIE — C.A. No. 11260/1995

The Supreme Court allowed Hotel Darpan's appeal against ambiguous penalty notices issued under the U.P. Taxation and Land Revenue Laws Act, 1975. The Court held that while penalties cannot be imposed merely for non-filing returns (only best-judgment assessment is permitted), the impugned orders were too ambiguous to clarify whether the Rs. 5,000 demand constituted a tax or penalty. The Court quashed both orders and remanded for the Assessing Authority to issue fresh orders with proper reasoning after hearing the hotel, while also examining whether its claimed advance deposit of Rs. 10,000 should be adjusted. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.