https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7680 Section 277 of the Income-tax Act is constitutionally valid because prosecution and concealment penalty proceedings operate in distinct fields: prosecution requires mens rea, while penalty does not. Statutory safeguards, including institution of prosecution at the Commissioner's instance and restrictions where penalty is reduced or waived, sufficiently constrain discretion and prevent arbitrariness under article 14. Criminal prosecution following or alongside penalty proceedings does not amount to double jeopardy under article 20(2), as they are not prosecution and punishment for the same offence. No pre-sanction hearing is required because the assessee can fully contest the criminal charge at trial; the complaint may proceed. 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 constitutionally valid because prosecution and concealment penalty proceedings operate in distinct fields: prosecution requires mens rea, while penalty does not. Statutory safeguards, including institution of prosecution at the Commissioner's instance and restrictions where penalty is reduced or waived, sufficiently constrain discretion and prevent arbitrariness under article 14. Criminal prosecution following or alongside penalty proceedings does not amount to double jeopardy under article 20(2), as they are not prosecution and punishment for the same offence. No pre-sanction hearing is required because the assessee can fully contest the criminal charge at trial; the complaint may proceed. Case-Laws Income Tax Fri, 05 Sep 1969 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7680