Case Law Details
M A Zahid Vs ACIT (Karnataka High Court)
In this case First and foremost the petitioner is not accused of committing any non-bailable offence so as to invoke the jurisdiction under section 438 of Cr.P.C. Secondly, the apprehension expressed by the petitioner is also without any basis. As could be seen from the above Rules, the proceedings are initiated against the petitioner for recovery of the tax dues with the issuance of show cause notice as contemplated in Rule 73 of the Second Schedule. Rule 73 specifically provides that no order for the arrest and detention in a civil prison of a defaulter could be made unless the Tax Recovery Officer has issued and served a notice upon the defaulter calling upon him to appear before him on the date specified in the notice and to show cause as to why he should not be committed to civil prison. When a defaulter appears before the Tax Recovery Officer, he shall be given an opportunity of hearing and only thereafter, an order could be passed for detention of the defaulter in the civil prison. Therefore, the apprehension of the petitioner that on issuance of a show cause notice under Rule 73 of the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Act, he has a reason to believe that he would be arrested and detained in prison is wholly misconceived and misplaced.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER / JUDGMENT
Whether a person issued with a notice under Rule 73 of the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Act 1961 is entitled to invoke section 438 of Cr.P.C. is the question that arises for consideration in this petition.
The contextual background giving rise to the above question is that a notice was issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (OSD), the Tax Recovery Office, Bengaluru directing the petitioner to appear before him on 2nd day of April 2018 and to show cause why the petitioner should not be committed to civil prison in execution of the said certificate? The notice reads as under: (Annexure-B)
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