V.C. Daga, J.

All these petitions filed by the petitioners under Article 226 of the Constitution of India are challenging imposition of penalty under section 38(3) of the Finance Act, 1979 (“Finance Act” or “Act” for short) for delay in payment of Foreign Travel Tax (“FTT” for short) to the Government. The facts involved in all these petitions are more or less common and issues involved are identical. Hence all these petitions were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

Facts of W.P.No.17/2004:

2. The petitioner in this petition is a Airline Company engaged in the business of carrying passengers between various locations in India and abroad. The petitioner in the course of its business collected FTT from passengers going abroad in accordance with the Finance Act and Foreign Travel Tax Rules, 1979 framed thereunder (“FTT Rules” for short). The petitioner for the months of April, August, September and December, 2001 failed to pay the FTT within the stipulated period. In view of its failure, four separate show-cause notices were issued to the petitioner. The adjudicating authority vide its order dated 29th May, 2002 imposed penalty of Rs.4,19,700/-o