Limitation in income-tax prosecutions must be considered before cognizance; delayed complaint without condonation was set aside.

Criminal prosecution under the Income-tax Act was held unsustainable where the complaint itself disclosed delay, included a prayer for condonation under Section 473 CrPC, and the Magistrate took cognizance without recording any consideration of limitation. The prolonged pendency and absence of evidence for years reinforced that the accused had been subjected to a criminal process without the foundational limitation issue being decided. On that basis, the cognizance order and the prosecution were set aside.

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Issues: Whether the criminal prosecution and cognizance for an offence under the Income-tax Act were liable to be set aside on the ground that limitation was not considered and the complaint had been delayed without an order on condonation.

Analysis: The complaint itself disclosed delay and contained a prayer for condonation under Section 473 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, yet no order showed that the Magistrate considered limitation before taking cognizance. The long pendency of the prosecution and the failure to proceed with evidence for years further demonstrated that the accused had been made to undergo prolonged criminal process without the foundational limitation question being decided. In these circumstances, the taking of cognizance without addressing limitation and delay was treated as legally unsustainable.

Conclusion: The prosecution and the order taking cognizance were set aside.

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