: ‘Do not take any coercive action against Anil Ambani’ #finance #StockMarketNEWS #Business Press Trust of India Mumbai In a breather for Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, the Bombay High

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‘Do not take any coercive action against Anil Ambani’ #finance #StockMarketNEWS #Business
Press Trust of India

Mumbai

In a breather for Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Income Tax department not to take any coercive action against him till November 17 on a show cause notice seeking to prosecute him under the BlackMoney Act.

When the matter came up for hearing, senior counsel Rafique Dada, appearing for Ambani, said provisions of the Act cannot have a retrospective effect, while advocate Akhileshwar Sharma, appearing for the I-T department, sought time to respond to the petition.

A division bench of Justices S. V. Gangapurwala and R. N. Laddha permitted the same and posted the petition for hearing on November 17.

“The Income Tax department shall till the next date not take any coercive action against the petitioner (Ambani) in pursuance to the show cause notice,�? the bench said.

It also directed the I-T department to respond to Ambani’s contention that provisions of the Black Money Act may not have a retrospective effect.

The I-T department issued a notice to Ambani on August 8, 2022, for allegedly evading `420 crore in taxes on undisclosed funds worth more than `814 crore held in two Swiss bank accounts.

As per the department’s notice, Ambani was liable to be prosecuted under Sections 50 and 51 of the Black Money (undisclosed foreign income and assets) Imposition of Tax Act of 2015, which stipulates a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonmentwith a fine.

The department has charged Ambani (63) with “wilful�? evasion, saying he “intentionally�? did not disclose his foreign bank account details and financial interests to Indiantax authorities.

Ambani had earlier this month approached the HC challenging the notice, claiming that the Black Money Act was enacted in 2015 and the alleged transactions are of assessment years 2006-2007and 2010-2011.

Dada told the court that an assessment order was passed by the department in March this year and the petitioner filed an appeal against the said order before the Commissioner of Income Tax.

“Pending this civil proceeding, the department has now issued this show cause notice seeking to initiate criminal proceedings against the petitioner under the provisions of the Black Money Act,�? Dada said.

He said when a civil proceeding is pending, criminal action cannot be sought to be initiated bythe department.

“The show cause notice on the face of it was violative of Article 20 of the Constitution of India (that says no person shall be prosecuted for the same alleged offence twice). Let the civil proceedings carry on and reach its logical end,�? Dada argued.
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