Can Service Tax Department publish names of alleged offenders?
DDT asked this question to several service tax officers; many of them retorted, "why not"?
When we mentioned about Section 73D of the Finance Act, 1994, many of them were not aware of it. Section 73D states,
73D. Publication of information in respect of persons in certain cases:
(1) If the Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest to publish the name of any person and any other particulars relating to any proceedings under this Chapter in respect of such person, it may cause to be published such names and particulars in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) No publication under this section shall be made in relation to any penalty imposed under this Chapter until the time for presenting an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) under section 85 or the Appellate Tribunal under section 86, as the case may be, has expired without an appeal having been presented or the appeal, if presented, has been disposed of.
And the Government had notified the Service Tax (Publication of Names) Rules, 2008. The CBEC explained the Act and the Rules in Circular No. , dated: March 12, 2008 .
The Board directed that:
• Publication of information would be resorted to only in respect of offence cases wherein the service tax liability is Rs. 1 crore or more.
• The cases should have material evidence to show that fraud, collusion, wilful mis-statement or suppression of facts has been committed with intent to evade payment of tax /duty.
• Such publication of information should be necessary or expedient in public interest.
• The jurisdictional Commissioners or the ADGs of DGCEI zonal units should send the proposal giving full details of the nature of offence, amount of tax, credit, refund or rebate involved and role played by each person whose name or other particulars are proposed to be published, to the Chief Commissioner or the Director General of Central Excise Intelligence as the case may be.
• The Board, on receipt of approval of the Central Government, will communicate the same to the concerned Chief Commissioner or Director General, as the case may be, for taking necessary action. The publication of names may be made in the print media, electronic or any other media of mass communication.
Board further clarified that these provisions are stringent in nature and may affect the reputation of a person. Therefore, these should be used sparingly, with due care and caution. At the same time, it has also to be ensured that in deserving cases, they are, in fact, used and that there is no arbitrary selection in their implementation.
So, there is a long procedure to be followed before the names of alleged offenders can be published. The CBI does not publish the names of babus it arrests on corruption charges.
While the Department cannot officially publish the names of alleged offenders, without following the prescribed procedure, they can always "leak" the information to the press. And the modern Press is more than willing to ‘carry' the news.