https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7680 Section 277 of the Income-tax Act is explained as a separate prosecution provision from penalty proceedings under section 271(1)(c), because the two operate in different fields and prosecution requires mens rea. The article notes that statutory safeguards, including institution of prosecution at the Commissioner's instance and restrictions where penalty is reduced or waived in specified cases, are sufficient to prevent arbitrary action under article 14. It further states that penalty and prosecution are not the same offence for article 20(2), so double jeopardy does not apply. A prior hearing before sanction is also not required, as the assessee can contest the charge in the criminal trial. en-us Fri, 05 Sep 1969 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:30:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7680 Section 277 of the Income-tax Act is explained as a separate prosecution provision from penalty proceedings under section 271(1)(c), because the two operate in different fields and prosecution requires mens rea. The article notes that statutory safeguards, including institution of prosecution at the Commissioner's instance and restrictions where penalty is reduced or waived in specified cases, are sufficient to prevent arbitrary action under article 14. It further states that penalty and prosecution are not the same offence for article 20(2), so double jeopardy does not apply. A prior hearing before sanction is also not required, as the assessee can contest the charge in the criminal trial. Case-Laws Income Tax Fri, 05 Sep 1969 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7680