ACIT Vs AT Dev Prabha (TV) & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the judgment of the Jharkhand High Court in ACIT v. AT Dev Prabha (TV) & Ors. After condoning the delay, the Supreme Court heard the petitioner, found no merit in the Special Leave Petition, dismissed it, and disposed of the pending applications.
The underlying judgment of the Jharkhand High Court concerned a batch of criminal miscellaneous petitions seeking quashing of cognizance orders and criminal proceedings initiated under Sections 276B and 278B of the Income-tax Act for delayed deposit of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS). The prosecution alleged that the petitioners had deducted TDS but failed to deposit the amounts with the Central Government within the prescribed time, resulting in prosecution after obtaining sanction under Section 279(1). The TDS amounts varied across the cases.
Read HC Judgment in this case: Initiation of Criminal Proceedings after TDS Deposit with Interest is invalid: HC
The petitioners contended that although there had been delay in depositing TDS, the entire TDS amounts had subsequently been deposited along with interest under Section 201(1A). They argued that prosecution was unwarranted after payment of both the tax and interest. They also relied upon the CBDT Instruction dated 28.05.1980, which provides that prosecution under Section 276B should not normally be proposed where the amount involved and/or the period of default is not substantial and the defaulted amount has already been deposited to the credit of the Government. The petitioners relied on judicial precedents, including the Patna High Court decision in Sonali Autos (P) Ltd., which had considered the same CBDT instruction.
