Eligibility under legacy dispute scheme turns on pending inquiry cut-off; discharge certificate bars later notice absent falsity.

Under the legacy dispute resolution scheme, eligibility for the voluntary disclosure category depended on whether an enquiry or investigation was pending as on the cut-off date of 30 June 2019. The discharge certificate was treated as conclusive for the covered matter and could be reopened only if the declaration was later found false within the scheme. On the record, no material showed any pending enquiry or investigation against the petitioner on that date, and the process leading to notice began later. The petitioner was therefore eligible to make the declaration, and the show cause notice could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was ineligible for the voluntary disclosure category under the legacy dispute resolution scheme on the ground that it was under enquiry or investigation, and whether the show cause notice could be sustained despite issuance of a discharge certificate.

Analysis: The scheme treated the discharge certificate as conclusive and protected the declarant from further liability in respect of the covered matter, while permitting re-opening only where the declaration was subsequently found to be false within the meaning of the scheme. The governing interpretation of the eligibility bar under the voluntary disclosure category required the enquiry or investigation to be pending as on the relevant cut-off date of 30 June 2019. On the record, no material showed that any enquiry or investigation was pending against the petitioner on that date, and the basic process leading to notice had commenced only later. In these circumstances, the declaration could not be treated as invalid on the ground invoked by the respondents.

Conclusion: The petitioner was eligible to make the declaration under the scheme, and the impugned show cause notice was not sustainable.

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