Income Tax Dept files Criminal Complaint for ITR Non-Filing: Madras HC dismisses Petitions, Grants liberty to present case in trial court [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the Madras High Court has dismissed a writ petition, thereby granting the petitioner the liberty to present their case before the trial court. Additionally, the court has also dismissed a criminal original petition filed by the Income Tax Department concerning non-filing of Income Tax Returns ( ITR ).

The petitioner challenged the complaint filed against them under Section 200 Cr.P.C and Section 276B read with 278B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by the respondent, who is the complainant in the mentioned case.

The matter revolved around the alleged non-filing of ITR in a timely manner and the delay in payment of deducted Income Tax amounting to Rs.1,05,241/- for the financial year 2008-2009. The respondents, acting upon these alleged violations, initiated legal proceedings, which led to the filing of the writ petition.

The counsel of the petitioner contended that they had previously sought to compound the offence under Section 276B of the Income Tax Act. They asserted that an application for compounding had been submitted on December 23, 2014.

It was submitted that despite their efforts, the application remained unaddressed by the authorities. Consequently, they requested the court to direct the respondent to reconsider their application for compounding the offence.

On the contrary, the standing counsel representing the respondent informed the court that the application for compounding had indeed been considered. Allegedly, the petitioners were directed to pay a compounding fee of Rs.1,01,805/- by May 19, 2017. However, the petitioners failed to follow this directive, resulting in the rejection of their application on July 27, 2017.

The respondent argued that the petitioners' failure to challenge this decision rendered their current petition unsustainable for reconsideration.

Considering the submissions and arguments from both sides and examining the available evidence, the bench of Justice M. Dhandapani noted that although the petitioners were given an opportunity for compounding the offence, they failed to comply with the prescribed deadline for payment of the compounding fees. Consequently, their application for compounding was rejected.

The court further emphasised that seeking similar relief without challenging the previous decision was not acceptable. Consequently, the court dismissed the Criminal Original Petition while granting the petitioners liberty to present their arguments before the trial court in accordance with the law.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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