Provisions of section 287 of Income tax Act.

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....and in particular for offences under the Income-tax Act. The Board has examined the reasons for lenient punishments awarded by Courts. These are as under : (i) The Department has failed to lead evidence before the Courts in respect of penalties imposed in the past for concealment of income or other contumacious conduct of the accused. (ii) The attitude of the prosecution Counsels of the Depa....

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....impose fine. (vi) Offences under the Income-tax Act are not generally viewed as serious offences. The Board had, in Instruction nos. 271 and 302, referred to some of the above aspects with a view of ensuring that tax evaders do not get away with lenient punishments. 2. The matter has been further considered by the Board. It is felt that offences under the Income-tax Act are not temporary ....

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.... punishment and, therefore, they should impress upon the Court the seriousness of the offence the past record in the matter of tax evasion, the fact that imprisonment till the rising of the Court does not constitute rigorous imprisonment as it does not involve any hard labour as also the point that penalties imposed under the income-tax Act should not be taken into consideration in determining the....