TMI Blog1987 (1) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed relate to section 276C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (" the Act "), for evasion of income-tax in addition to the other offence of forgery, etc. The learned counsel for the parties have argued the cases at length and took various adjournments for producing certain evidence and documents which were given in the interest of justice. Finally, both the parties have filed the relevant pleadings and documents for final decision for deciding this application under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The questions to be considered by this court being identical in both cases, I have accepted the joint request of learned counsel for the parties that both may be decided by a common judgment. In both cases, there was an income-tax raid which under law is called " search and seizure " under the Act, in which recoveries were made from the possession of Laxmi Narain Dhamani and Gopal Dhamani of various documents, etc. The case of the department is that simply because the Magistrate issued bailable warrants in the cases of the non petitioners, bail should not have been granted by the Sessions Judge because the offence with which the accused are charged is evasion of income-tax and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g bail, if the offence is of serious nature. In this connection, the hon'ble Supreme Court has taken the view that even in a bailable offence, bail can be cancelled. In Madhukar Purshottam Mondkar v. Talab Haji Hussain, AIR 1958 Bom 406; the then hon'ble Mr. Chagla, the Chief justice, sitting with Datar J., invoked the inherent powers under section 561 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, to cancel the bail in a bailable offence, even though the offence was bailable under section 496 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The accused was being prosecuted for a charge under section 167 of the Sea Customs Act, 1878, and the High Court cancelled the bail. This view of the Bombay High Court was confirmed by the hon'ble Supreme, Court in appeal in Talab Haji Hussain v. Madhukar Purshottam Mondkar, AIR 1958 SC 376. However, the hon'ble Supreme Court held that inherent powers have to be exercised sparingly, carefully and with caution and only where such exercise is justified by the tests specifically laid down in the section itself. After all, procedure, whether criminal or civil, must serve the higher purpose of justice and it is only when the ends of justice are put in jeopardy by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of proof and raising of presumption in various economic offences, offences of anti-social nature, cases of corruption, etc. Even then, in spite of the adjournments, the Income-tax Department was not able to show, that any such analogous amendments have been introduced of such provision either in the Income-tax Act or in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, or in any other relevant law. The resultant inference which can be drawn is that in spite of serious abhorrence of the society as a whole against evasion of income-tax, highlighted by such search and seizure and prosecution, the Legislature has not thought it fit to come forward with amendments in the relevant laws for making the provisions of bail more stringent. In the present case, learned counsel for the Income-tax Department further could not point out why the assessment has not been completed so far finally, and he came out with the pet stock excuse that unless the assessment becomes time-barred, the Income-tax Officer has always got authority to assess evasion of the tax and levy penalty. It is difficult to appreciate that on the one hand the Income-tax Officer is keen to see the assessees behind bars without adjudica ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rinciple, 1, for one, would have taken a different view if the matter had come before me in similar circumstances, but I would reserve my detailed comments and opinion in such a situation for a case when it arises in future. . Leaving apart 'anticipatory bail' which should normally be out of question, even I would have considered the original application for bail after arrest, the rejection, other things remaining same, would have had an edge; over acceptance at " jail " and not bail should be the rule in such serious cases. Mr. Dhankhar and Mr. Bhandari have placed before me various judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gurcharan Singh v. State (Delhi Administration), AIR 1978 SC 179, State (Delhi Administration) v. Sanjay Gandhi, AIR 1978 SC 961, Bhagirathsinh Judeja v. State of Gujarat, AIR 1984 SC 372 and Mohan Singh v. Union Territory, AIR 1978 SC 1095, which provide valuable guidance on the various facets and the principles to be considered on the question of cancellation of bail. Technically, it is difficult to use the terminology of cancellation of bail in the present case, because the present one is not a case where on account of happening of events after the gra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hension of the prosecution is that 'Maruti witnesses' are likely to be won over. The instances discussed by us are also confined to the attempted tampering of Maruti witnesses like Yadav and Charan Singh, though we have excluded Charan Singh's complaint from our consideration. Since appellant's counsel has assured us that the prosecution will examine the Maruti witnesses immediately and that their evidence will occupy no more than a month, it will be enough to limit the cancellation of respondent's bail to that period. We hope and trust that no unfair advantage will be taken of our order by stalling the proceedings or by asking for a stay on some pretext or the other. If that is done, the arms of law shall be long enough. Out of abundant caution, we reserve liberty to the State to apply to the High Court, if necessary, but only if strictly necessary. We are hopeful that the State too will take our order in its true spirit." In the instant case, the income-tax authority has not been able to create even some bedrock for showing that after grant of bail the accused have abused it or that they have tried to tamper with the evidence, although a very vague submission was made by couns ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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