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2014 (6) TMI 406 - HC - Income TaxCriminal prosecution – complaint u/s 276 C and Section 277 read with Section 278-B of the Act – Levy of penalty u/s 271(1)(c) of the Act - Whether it is not an abuse of the process of the law to prosecute an assessee for concealment of income when Adjudicatory Authority of the tax Department has itself held that return of the assessee was voluntary return filed in good faith and before the detection of any concealment by the AO – Held that:- Criminal prosecution had been launched against the petitioners on January 29, 1993 on the ground that they had concealed their income for the assessment year 1988-89 - once authorities under the Act return a finding that there is no concealment of income, the prosecution is not sustainable on the allegation of concealment of income – the Tribunal held that there is no concealment and the return filed by the assessee was voluntary, filed in good faith and before the detection of any concealment - the penalty imposed u/s 271 (1) (c) of the Act has been set aside - once the Tribunal of a Department holds that there is no concealment of income on part of the accused and the penalty is deleted, the very basis of the complaint is knocked down and continuation of complaint will be an abuse of the process of the Court – thus, the criminal complaint and the proceedings are set aside – Decided in favour of Assessee.
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