2002 (7) TMI 10 - HC - Income Tax

A criminal complaint was filed by the appellant/Union of India against the respondents for initiation of the prosecution, on account of their violation of certain provisions of the Income-tax Act - They were charged and prosecuted for the commission of offence punishable under sections 276B and 278B - There was no intentional suppression of income by the respondents/assessee - assessee had shown in their return for the relevant assessment year, interest paid to the concerned depositors but due to inadvertence they had not annexed Form No. 15A along with the return and had also not filed the return form in Form No. 26A, as required under rule 37(2A) of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. It has been recorded that if the assessee had been asked by the Assessing Officer to comply with the said requirement and if they had failed to do so, then it could have been said that there was intentional default committed by the assessee. But this procedure was not adopted by the Assessing Officer, therefore, it is not proved that they had deliberately or intentionally committed this default - assessee is not liable to be prosecuted for the commission of offence punishable under sections 276B and 278B

Summary

The High Court of Madhya Pradesh dismissed the appeal by the Union of India against the judgment and order of acquittal in a criminal case related to violations of the Income-tax Act. The court found no intentional suppression of income by the respondents and concluded that there was no deliberate default. The appeal was deemed devoid of merit and substance and was dismissed.