(1) Any officer during the course of any inspection or search of any business place, building, godown or any other place, or checking of goods under transport or verification of the bills at any place finds that the seller has not issued a sale bill or an invoice or cash memorandum in respect of any sale, in violation of section 40 A of the Act, the dealer shall, without prejudice to any other provisions in the Act, be liable to pay by way of penalty, an amount not exceeding twice the amount of tax evaded or sought to be evaded or one thousand rupees for the first offence, whichever is higher, an amount not exceeding thrice the amount of tax evaded or sought to be evaded or two thousand rupees for the second offence, which ever is higher, and so on in arithmetic progression, for every subsequent commissions of the above offence.

(2) No penalty under sub-section (1) shall be imposed without giving the person affected a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the dealer shall have an option to get the offence compounded, on the spot, on the payment of fifty per cent of penalty payable under sub-section (1).

(4) Where an offence has been compounded under sub-section (3), no further penal proceedings under sub-section (1) shall be taken against the dealer in respect of such offence.

(5) A dealer who commits the offence in sub-section (1) for more than ten occasions shall be liable to cancellation of his registration.