Special GST statute bars IPC prosecution for delayed TDS deposit; BNS cannot apply retrospectively to 2017-18 conduct

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....Delayed non-deposit of deducted GST/TDS was held to fall within the U.P. GST Act, 2017, which operates as a complete code for assessment, penalty, prosecution and compounding. In the absence of independent allegations of dishonest misappropriation, forgery, cheating, siphoning or wrongful gain, recourse to general penal provisions was impermissible, and prosecution solely under B.N.S. was unsustainable. The Court also held that substantive penal law applies as on the date of occurrence, so B.N.S. 2023 could not govern an alleged 2017-18 default. The charge-sheet, cognizance order and consequential proceedings were quashed.....