Section 135 - Presumption of culpable mental state. - Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

Presumption of culpable mental state. 135. In any prosecution for an offence under this Act which requires a culpable mental state on the part of the accused, the court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an offence in that prosecution. Explanation .-For the purposes of this section,- (i) the expression culpable mental state includes intention, motive, knowledge of a fact, and belief in, or reason to believe, a fact ; (ii) a fact is said to be proved only when the court believes it to exist beyond reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponderance of probability.