2023 (4) TMI 1216

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....ikeyan Special Public Prosecutor COMMON ORDER The petitions have been filed challenging the complaints on the file of learned Judicial Magistrate No.1, Tirupur, under Section 276 B r/w 278 B of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 2. It is alleged in the complaints that the petitioners had deducted tax from the payments made to various parties and failed to deposit the tax to the credit of the Central Government within the prescribed time. The impugned complaints pertain to three different assessment years. It is alleged that in all three assessment years, the petitioners had delayed the deposit of tax deducted at source and therefore were liable for offences under Section 276 B r/w 278 B of Income Tax Act. 3. The learned counsel for the p....

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.... (b) The learned counsel further submitted that the Commissioner of Income Tax did not grant sanction immediately since the petitioners had submitted the reply belatedly. The time taken for reply has to be excluded as per the instructions relied upon by the petitioners. Hence, the delay cannot be attributed to the respondents. 5.This Court finds that the Company and its Directors have been prosecuted for the offence under Section 276 B of the Income Tax Act. The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners that no notice was issued to the Directors as mandated under Section 2 (35) of the Income Tax cannot be accepted. The Hon'ble Apex Court in Madhumilan Syntex Ltd., and others vs. Union of India and another (cited supra) h....

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....een issued before issuance of show-cause notice under Section 276-B read with Section 278-B of the Act that the Directors were to be treated as principal officers under the Act. In our opinion, however, no such independent and separate notice is necessary and when in the show-cause notice it was stated that the Directors were to be considered as principal officers under the Act and a complaint was filed, such complaint is entertainable by a court provided it is otherwise maintainable.'' In view of the above Judgment, the impugned complaints cannot be quashed on the ground that no notice under Section 2 (35) of the Income Act was issued to the Directors. Further, the question as to whether the Directors were in charge of and respo....