Law:

Section:

Section 276B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Offences and prosecutions - Failure to deduct or pay tax - Petitioners were partners of a firm - Prosecutions under section 276B were initiated against them on ground that they had failed to deduct tax on interest paid to certain parties and deposit same within prescribed time for assessment years 1971-72 and 1974-75 - All petitioners, one of whom was a minor at relevant time, were alleged to have been incharge and responsible for conduct of firm's business -Whether if prosecution degenerates into persecution, present Court cannot sit as a helpless spectator and as in instant case where (i) at relevant time, i.e. , prior to introduction of section 278B, partners could not be prosecuted against, and (ii) department had made a misrepresentation that minor petitioner was also incharge and responsible for firm's business, present Court must interfere and quash prosecution proceedings - Held, yes Facts The petitioners were partners of a firm. The prosecutions under section 276B were initiated against the petitioners on the ground that they had failed to deduct tax on the interest paid to certain parties and deposit the same within the prescribed time, for the assessment years 1971-72 and 1974-75. All the petitioners, one of whom was a minor at the relevant time, were alleged to have been incharge and responsible for the conduct of the business of the firm. On petition under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 the revenue submitted that since the trial court had taken cognizance of the facts mentioned in the complaint, the present Court should not interfere in exercise of its powers under section 482. Held If the prosecution degenerates into persecution, the present Court cannot sit as a helpless spectator. It is the bounden duty of this Court to interfere if there is a palpable and grave injustice and if it finds that the process of the Court is being abused. Earlier to the introduction of section 278B the partners could not be prosecuted and firm alone could be prosecuted. In case the partners were to be proceeded against in the absence of…

Deprecated: trim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/digixyei/sldsystempk.com/view/master-layout/view_case.php on line 492