Jurisdiction of subordinate courts limits status-report directions in tax evasion matters absent statutory authority.

Subordinate criminal courts can act only within statutory authority, and no inherent power under the Code of Criminal Procedure permits them to direct a status report or action taken report from the Income Tax Department in a tax evasion petition absent a supporting provision. The Delhi HC found that the ACMM had no identified legal source for requiring disclosure of ongoing investigative details to the complainant under the governing tax and criminal law framework. The impugned orders were therefore treated as having been made without jurisdiction and were set aside.

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Issues: Whether the learned ACMM had jurisdiction to call for a status report or action taken report from the Income Tax Department in relation to a tax evasion petition when no provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure or the governing tax statute conferred such power.

Analysis: The petition was founded on the submission that subordinate criminal courts have only statutory powers and no inherent jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal Procedure. The order under challenge was examined in the context of the application filed before the ACMM and the statutory framework governing proceedings relating to tax evasion petitions and prosecution under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. It was found that the application before the ACMM had been filed without any supporting provision under the Code of Criminal Procedure or the Income-tax law framework, and that the ACMM had not indicated any legal source of authority for directing filing of a status report. The Court held that the subordinate court had usurped jurisdiction not vested in it and that disclosure of ongoing investigative details to the complainant was not warranted.

Conclusion: The impugned orders were without jurisdiction and were set aside, and the petition was allowed.

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