Inspection of prosecution work: ensure compliance with prosecution guidelines and address pendency and non-compliance in tax enforcement.
Inspection of prosecution work requires the Director General, Directorate of Performance Management and Chief Commissioners to inspect Commissionerates to verify scrupulous compliance with the Circular's guidelines for launching prosecution. Inspections must examine reasons for pendency and non-compliance in prosecution cases and ensure recording of statistical data during field visits to support oversight of prosecution performance.

Compounding of offences: administrative authorities may permit settlement by payment and written offer when prosecution is initiated.
Compounding of offences for evasion under central excise and service tax allows the Principal Chief/Chief Commissioner to compound offences on payment of the compounding amount; Section 9A(2) of the Central Excise Act as applied to service tax via section 83 of the Finance Act authorises this, and circulars require that persons against whom prosecution is initiated or contemplated be informed in writing of the offer to compound.

Prosecution guidelines: sanctions granted after the circular govern cases regardless of offence date, with sanctioned cases reviewed.
Prosecution guidelines apply to all cases where sanction for prosecution is accorded after the circular's issue date, and such cases must be prosecuted according to the circular regardless of the offence date. Sanctioning authorities must review cases in which prosecution has been sanctioned but no complaint filed, reassessing them against the circular's provisions before any complaint is presented.

Withdrawal of prosecution permitted after final exoneration in parallel quasi judicial proceedings; formal application required to seek withdrawal.
Withdrawal of prosecution is permitted where identical allegations led to the noticee's exoneration in quasi judicial proceedings and that order is final; the senior tax or investigative leadership shall direct the commissionerate to file an application through the public prosecutor requesting judicial permission to withdraw the complaint in accordance with law and prosecution guidelines.

Publication of convicted persons' names may be sought by the department through courts under central excise and service tax law.
Power exists under the Central Excise statutory framework, as applied to service tax by the Finance Act, to publish the name and place of business of persons convicted under the relevant enactments; courts have exercised this power sparingly, and the department is directed to request courts to invoke this publication power in deserving cases for all convicted persons.

Prosecution monitoring: Principal Commissioners must track and review cases monthly to ensure satisfactory progress.
The Principal Commissioner/Commissioner must monitor prosecution files monthly, take corrective action where necessary, and inspect the prosecution register in the Prosecution Cell at least once every quarter. Designated supervisors in zonal investigative units must oversee prosecution work. Prosecution registers in prescribed formats are to be maintained, regularly updated and kept in the Commissionerate Prosecution Cell and in zonal units to enable systematic tracking of prosecution cases.

Prosecution Sanction: mens rea and evidentiary sufficiency determine whether tax evasion prosecution proceeds.
Prosecution proposals for service tax or excise evasion must be examined and forwarded by the adjudicating authority to the sanctioning Principal Chief/Chief Commissioner or Principal/Director General; prosecution requires evidence of mens rea and should not be launched in purely technical or interpretation disputes. Criminal standards (beyond reasonable doubt) must be weighed separately from adjudication findings; prosecution may be initiated before adjudication in serious cases. Investigation reports must be prepared within one month and sanction obtained prior to filing; authorised officers must secure exhibits and coordinate with public prosecutors, with reporting obligations for delays and monthly updates to the sanctioning authority.

Sanction for prosecution: designated senior authorities must authorize and formalize prosecution before filing criminal complaints.
Sanction for prosecution is required before initiating criminal complaints in service tax and central excise matters. The Principal Chief/Chief Commissioner must sanction routine cases, while the Principal Director General/Director General, CEI must sanction cases investigated by the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence. The sanctioning authority issues a written order and forwards it to the Commissionerate for expeditious filing of the complaint.

Habitual evasion: prosecution permitted where repeated confirmed demands and substantial cumulative tax evasion or credit misuse.
Prosecution may be initiated against a company or assessee classified as a habitual evader where multiple confirmed demands (at first appellate level or above) for Central Excise duty or Service Tax, or findings of Cenvat credit misuse arising from fraud or suppression, occur within a prior period and the cumulative duty or tax evaded or credit misused meets a substantial monetary threshold; the Offence Register (335J) may be used to identify such assessees.

Prosecution threshold: prosecution requires evasion exceeding the prescribed monetary limit before proceeding for excise or service tax offences.
Prosecution for evasion of Central Excise duty or Service Tax, or misuse of Cenvat credit in relation to offences specified under sub section (1) of Section 9 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or sub section (1) of Section 89 of the Finance Act, 1994 should normally not be launched unless the evasion meets or exceeds the prescribed monetary threshold set out in the departmental guideline.

Corporate criminal liability: officers and partners can be prosecuted for company service tax or excise evasion.
Persons in charge of and responsible for a company's business are prosecutable alongside the company for service tax or central excise evasion; where an offence by a company is shown to involve the consent, connivance or neglect of a director, manager, secretary or other officer, that individual is deemed guilty. The statutory definition of company includes firms and associations and treats a partner as a director, extending corporate liability principles to service tax prosecutions.