Income Tax - Non-filing of Returns - Jayalalithaa loses in Supreme Court - Trial starts NOW - Supreme Court frowns on those who see Court as medium for stalling all legal processes - Pendency of appeal is no bar for prosecution
PURATCHI Thalaivi - Amma - Selvi J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is in deep trouble - just before the elections - it seems she is a strong aspirant for the post of Prime Minister of India, but things are pretty bad for the tough lady from Chennai.
It all started long ago in 1989, when she started a partnership firm with her illustrious friend Sasikala and forgot to file income tax returns for the Assessment years 1991-92 and 1992-93.
Prosecution was initiated against the two partners and the firm by the Income Tax Department and complaints were filed on 21.08.1997 before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. She sought discharge from the prosecution and went right up to the Supreme Court to get discharged. The Supreme Court on 3.3.2006 directed the trial court to dispose of the petition within two months. The Trial Court rejected the petitions on 14.6.2006, which was upheld by the Madras High Court on 2.12.2006. It is against this High Court order that Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and the firm are before the Supreme Court.
The case was pending in the Supreme Court for over six years for one reason or another. The Supreme Court made a passing mention of the dilatory tactics adopted in these cases and cautioned the Courts to be guarded against those persons who prefer to see it as a medium for stalling all legal processes.
The Supreme Court found no reason to interfere with the order of the High Court and directed the Criminal Court to complete the trial within four months.
So, the Hon'ble Chief Minister will have to stand as Accused No. 2 before the Magistrate and the magistrate has to decide the case within four months - if no further delay takes place, this case will have a huge impact on the political engineering of the Nation.
Pendency of appeal is no bar for prosecution: The Supreme Court reiterated that pendency of appeals in different appellate forums is no bar against prosecution. The Court noted that Section 276CC contemplates that an offence is committed on the non-filing of the return and it is totally unrelated to the pendency of assessment proceedings except for second part of the offence for determination of the sentence of the offence, the department may resort to best judgment assessment or otherwise to past years to determine the extent of the breach.
The Supreme Court observed that the language and legislative intention of Section 276CC is clear. It is trite law that “the language employed in a statute is the determinative factor of the legislative intent. It is well settled principle of law that a court cannot read anything into a statutory provision which is plain and unambiguous”. If it was the intention of the legislature to hold up the prosecution proceedings till the assessment proceedings are completed by way of appeal or otherwise the same would have been provided in Section 276CC itself. Therefore, the contention that no prosecution could be initiated till the culmination of assessment proceedings, especially in a case where the appellant had not filed the return as per Section 139(1) of the Act or following the notices issued under Section 142 or Section 148 does not arise.
This applies to indirect taxes like Customs too.
Don't forget to file your Income Tax Returns, for the punishment may be six months to seven years in jail. And even mighty chief ministers sometimes cannot escape from the long arm of the LAW.