Prosecution under a deleted tax offence provision was not maintainable, and the conviction could not stand.

A prosecution under a provision deleted from the Income-tax Act could not be sustained when the complaint was launched after the deletion took effect. The High Court noted that the complaint invoked section 276E read with section 278B for alleged cash repayment of loan in breach of section 269T, but the prosecution was initiated after 1 April 1989, when section 276E had already been removed from the statute book, and sanction was granted even later. As the offence provision was no longer in force, the proceedings were treated as vitiated and the conviction could not stand.

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Issues: Whether a prosecution for an offence under section 276E of the Income-tax Act, 1961, launched after the provision had been deleted from the statute book, was maintainable.

Analysis: The petitioners were prosecuted for an alleged contravention relating to cash repayment of loan in breach of section 269T of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the complaint invoked section 276E read with section 278B of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The prosecution had been launched after 1 April 1989, by which time section 276E had already been deleted, and sanction was granted even later. A prosecution for an offence under a provision no longer in force could not be sustained, and the proceedings were therefore treated as vitiated.

Conclusion: The prosecution was not maintainable and the conviction could not stand.

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