SABYASACHI MUKHARJI, J.

( 1 ) IN this reference under Section 27 (3) of the W. T. Act, 1957, two questions have been referred to this court which are as follows :"1. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was justified in allowing a partial relief instead of quashing the penalty order and in holding that the mens rea is not required to be established by the Department in imposing penalty for late submission of returns ? 2. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the imposition of penalty was at all justified without proper consideration of the press note dated 2nd June, 1969, issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue and Insurance, Govt. of India, referred to in the Tribunal's order ?"

( 2 ) THIS reference relates to four assessment years, viz. , assessment years 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69 and 1969-70, and the assessee is one of the beneficiaries of a trust called " Puma Chandra Paul Trust" with 1/5th share. 90% of the assessee's wealth-tax was from the said trust and the remaining 10% was from some movable properties. The returns for those assessment years under reference were filed after a long delay a

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