"Understanding Section 73 and 74: Are They Enough to Impose Penalties?"

Whether Section 73/74 of CGST Act 2017 contain standalone provisions to impose penalty or penal provisions contained in Section 122(2)(a)/(b) are to be invoked invariably while issuing notice under Section 73/74, is a matter of curiosity to those concerned with GST law.

No doubt , Section 75(13) provisions on not imposing penalties under other Sections if penalty is determined under Section 73(9)/74(9) come into play in situations where more than one penalty is contemplated under law.

For example, equal amount of penalty is imposable while recovering refund obtained fraudulently as per Section 122(1)(viii) and Section 122(2)(b) also.

In such cases, only one equal amount of penalty is imposable under Section 122(2)(b) in view of Section 75(13) .

Similarly, no penalty under Section 125 and 127 imposable when penalty under Section 122(2)(a)/(b) is imposed under Section 73(9)/74(9).

For example, if proposal to impose penalty under Section 73(1) to be determined under Section 73(9), Section 73(1) is silent on how much penalty is imposable.

Therefore, Section 73(1) needs to be read with Section 122(2)(a) in author's view.