2013 (12) TMI 1261 - HC - Income Tax

Dismissed Writ Petitions Upheld for Fabricated Evidence to Evade Taxes

The High Court upheld the dismissal of writ petitions challenging an order that found the petitioner produced fabricated evidence to evade taxes. The ... Evasion of taxes - Held that:- The appelant filed revision u/s 264 of the Act - The Commissioner, allowed the appellant to produce the materials in support of the alleged expenditure incurred for improvement of the land sold by the appellant - After having gone through the entire materials/evidence, the revisional authority held that all the documents produced by the appellant in support of his case are fabricated - Spot inspection was also conducted by the revisional authority and it was found that the claim of the appellant in respect of the development/improvement of the land was not genuine - Decided against petitioner. Issues:1. Dismissal of writ petitions challenging the order passed by the learned Single Judge.2. Allegations of producing fabricated evidence to evade legitimate taxes.3. Failure to appreciate evidence by the revisional authority.4. Imposition of exemplary costs.Analysis:1. The judgment pertains to appeals against the order passed by the learned Single Judge, who dismissed the writ petitions filed by the appellants challenging the order dated 26-11-2012 in W.P. Nos.2176 & 11524/2012.2. The learned Single Judge found that the petitioner had produced fabricated evidence to evade payment of legitimate taxes. The Appellate Authority had reduced the penalty from 300% to 100%, which was deemed lenient. The writ petitions were dismissed with exemplary costs of Rs.1,00,000 imposed on the petitioner for presenting false and fabricated claims for deduction.3. The appellant contended that the evidence presented before the revisional authority was not properly appreciated. The appellant failed to produce evidence before the Assessing Officer but was allowed to do so during the revision process. However, the revisional authority deemed all documents as fabricated after a spot inspection, leading to the dismissal of the writ petition by the learned Single Judge. The High Court independently reviewed the orders and found no errors in the appreciation of evidence by the authorities.4. The High Court upheld the dismissal of the writ petition, stating that the learned Single Judge's decision was correct and did not warrant interference. Consequently, the appeals against the dismissal were also rejected by the High Court.This detailed analysis highlights the key issues addressed in the judgment, including the dismissal of writ petitions, allegations of fabricated evidence, failure to appreciate evidence, and the imposition of exemplary costs.