Alignment of the provisions relating to Offences and Prosecutions under Chapter XXII of the Act

Sections 269UC/UE/UL along with other provisions of Chapter XX-C have been made inapplicable with effect from 01.07.2002. Vide Finance Act, 2002, section 269UP was introduced providing that the provisions of the Chapter shall not apply to, or in relation to, the transfer of any immovable property effected on or after 01.07.2002. Consequently, prosecution provisions u/s 276AB are not relevant, as launching prosecution against offences committed more than twenty years ago, that is prior to 2002 would be beyond reasonable time.

2. Since such cases involve transfer of immovable property, it is not improbable that prosecution cases launched previously while the relevant provisions were still in effect might be ongoing. Therefore, in order to take those cases to logical conclusion without any interpretational issue arising on applicability of the section or otherwise, it is proposed to amend section 276AB to align it with the provisions of the Act that have been made inapplicable, by providing a sunset clause. Hence, it is proposed that no fresh prosecution proceeding shall be initiated under this section on or after 1st April, 2022.

3. Section 276B provides for prosecution for a term ranging from three months to seven years with fine for failure to pay tax to the credit of Central Government under Chapter XII-D or XVII-B. Under this section, a person shall be punishable for failure to

a) deduct the tax as required under the provisions of Chapter XVII-B which deals with deduction of tax at source, or

b) to pay the tax, as required by or under––

(i) sub-section (2) of section 115-O or

(ii) the second proviso to section 194B.

Section 194B was amended vide Finance Act 1999 w.e.f. 01.04.2000 by which the first proviso to the section was omitted and the section currently has only one proviso. Therefore, to avoid ambiguity among the sections 276B and 194B, it is proposed to substitute the sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of section 276B with “proviso to section 194B”.

 

Sunset clause on historic prosecutions: prohibits initiation of fresh prosecutions under section 276AB from April 2022. Amendments propose a sunset clause in section 276AB to bar initiation of fresh prosecutions after 1 April 2022 for offences connected with transfers of immovable property made in the period when Chapter XX-C had been rendered inapplicable, while permitting continuation of prosecutions already initiated; additionally, section 276B is to be amended to substitute its cross-reference with an explicit reference to the proviso to the withholding provision to remove ambiguity created by prior amendments.