https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=243417 The court affirmed the High Court's decision, dismissing the appeals and directing the trial court to conclude the trial within four months. It emphasized the mandatory nature of filing returns under Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, stating that best judgment assessments under Section 144 do not absolve the responsibility to file returns. The court held that failure to file returns within the prescribed time makes the appellants liable for prosecution under Section 276CC, with no provision to delay prosecution due to pending appellate proceedings. The burden of proving a lack of willful failure to file returns lies with the accused under Section 278E. en-us Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:35:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=243417 The court affirmed the High Court's decision, dismissing the appeals and directing the trial court to conclude the trial within four months. It emphasized the mandatory nature of filing returns under Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, stating that best judgment assessments under Section 144 do not absolve the responsibility to file returns. The court held that failure to file returns within the prescribed time makes the appellants liable for prosecution under Section 276CC, with no provision to delay prosecution due to pending appellate proceedings. The burden of proving a lack of willful failure to file returns lies with the accused under Section 278E. Case-Laws Income Tax Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=243417