GSTAT holds Audit Mismatch Cannot Automatically Trigger Section 74

Conduent Business Services had paid the agreed tax and interest before issuance of the SCN following a Section 65 audit. While the adjudicating authority dropped Section 74 penalty on two issues, the appellate authority imposed it merely because the discrepancies were detected during audit. GSTAT held that Section 74 requires independent satisfaction of deliberate intent and restored the position under Section 73.