K.S. & Co. Vs State of Gujarat & Anr. (Gujarat High Court)
Income-Tax Returns Not Mandatory in Cheque Bounce Cases Due to Lack of Relevance; Trial Court Order Set Aside for Directing Irrelevant Financial Documents Without Justification; Cheque Dishonour Case: Production of Income-Tax Returns Rejected as Unnecessary Evidence; High Court Quashes Direction to Produce Tax Returns Due to Absence of Legal Necessity; Section 91 CrPC Cannot Be Invoked Without Relevance: Court Limits Scope of Document Production.
The Gujarat High Court considered a Special Criminal Application challenging orders passed by the trial court directing the complainant to produce income-tax returns for certain assessment years in a cheque dishonour case.
The dispute arose from a loan transaction dated 26.03.2010, under which the complainant advanced ₹2,50,000 to the accused for business expansion involving purchase of a vehicle. The accused repaid some installments but later defaulted on the remaining amount. The complainant presented a cheque dated 02.04.2013 for ₹2,05,000, which was dishonoured due to insufficient funds. Following statutory procedures, a criminal complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act was filed.
During the trial, the complainant filed an affidavit of examination-in-chief and underwent cross-examination. Based on certain admissions made during cross-examination, the accused filed an application (Exh.68) seeking production of various documents, including income-tax returns for the relevant years. The trial court partly allowed the application and directed the complainant to produce income-tax returns. A subsequent application seeking review of this order was rejected.
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