HALLAY MATHEW V Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these criminal revision petitions the order committing the petitioner for trial to the Sessions Court in respect of charges under sections 276(d) and 276B of the INcome-tax Act, 1961, which will hereinafter be referred to as " the Act ", has been challenged on the ground that the charge under Section 276B is violative of Article 20(1) of the Constitution of INdia and that the charge under Section 276(d) is not otherwise sustainable.

(2.) THE Income-tax Officer, A-Ward, Kottayam, instituted eight separate complaints at the instance of the Commissioner of Income-tax, against the petitioner who was alleged to be the managing director of one Malabar Agricultural Co. Ltd., Kottayam, for his failure to pay to the Central Government income-tax which he deducted from the dividend when it was distributed among its shareholders each year, beginning from April 20, 1961, and ending with February 1, 1968., THE year of assessment, the date of declaration of dividend, the date on which the tax was deducted from the dividend, the amount so deducted and the actual payment of the tax to the credit of the Government are given in a tabular form below :

(3.) AFTER deducting the amount of tax out of the dividend under the above section, the principal officer of the company shall pay that, within the prescribed time, to the Central Government as required by Section 18(6), which read as follows :