Compounding Offences in Income Tax Act: Clarifying Board's Authority u/s 279 Without Undermining Assessee's Rights.

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....Compounding of offence - Criminal case u/s 276C(1) read with Section 277 and 278B - The authority to issue instructions or directions by the Board stems from the second Explanation appended to Section 279 of the Act, 1961. It is well settled that the Explanation merely explains the main section and is not meant to carve out a particular exception to the contents of the main section. - Such instructions or directions that are prescribed by the Explanation cannot take away a statutory right with which an assessee has been clothed, or set at naught the working of the provision of compounding of offences. - HC....