Law:

Section:

Section 276C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Offences and prosecutions -Wilful attempt to evade tax, etc. - Petitioner was prosecuted for an offence under section 276C - Petitioner prayed that proceedings be quashed as he had approached Settlement Commission which had not only registered his petition but had recorded a finding that no concealment had been established and none was likely to be established - Whether prosecution should be stayed till Settlement Commission rendered a final decision - Held, yes FACTS The petitioner, whose premises were raided and from whose premises valuables were found by the raiding party, and who could not render satisfactory explanation regarding some of the items so seized, had been prosecuted for an offence punishable under section 276C, as well as section 195 of the Indian Penal Code. He filed a petition praying that the said proceedings be quashed inasmuch as he had approached the Settlement Commission and the Settlement Commission had not only registered his petition but had recorded a finding that no concealment had been established and none was likely to be established. HELD The Settlement Commission had recorded a finding that no income had been concealed and none was likely to be established to have been concealed. If the proceedings were to be allowed to continue and a decision allowed to be rendered in the proceedings and if ultimately the Commission were to grant immunity, then an anomalous situation would arise. It may be that the Commission may not, in the ultimate analysis, grant immunity, and in that case the criminal proceedings will have to be carried to their logical conclusion. But, before the Settlement Commission finally arrived at its decision, to allow the proceedings before the criminal court to continue might lead to an anomalous situation. Under the circumstances, while the complaint need not be quashed at this stage, it did require to be stayed and the petitions were, therefore, allowed to this extent. CASES REFERRED TO Dr. Mrs. Geeta Gupta v. IAC [1987] 168 ITR 222 (Delhi) and Ashvin Kumar Vadilal Patel v. S. Rajguru [1987] 165 ITR 583 (Guj.). G.N. Desai for the Applicant. R.P. Bhatt for the…

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