INCOME TAX OFFICER Vs. S PONNAMBALAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE above criminal appeal is directed against the judgment dated August 8, 1986, made in E.O.C.C. No. 113 of 1986, by the Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences II), Egmore, Madras 8, acquitting the respondents herein and yet another, who were arrayed as accused Nos. 1 to 3 before the trial court from the charges framed against them punishable under Sections 120B, 193 and 420 read with Section 511 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 276C, 277 and 278 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

(2.) THE charges as framed by the trial court against these respondents and yet another is that : Firstly, the first accused during August, 1986, intentionally made a false verification in the application form (exhibit P-1) for getting Section 230A(1) of the Income-tax Act, certificate, enclosing draft sale deed understating proposing the sale consideration as Rs. 75,000 and delivering the same before the Income-tax Officer, Salaries Circle 1(2), Madras, and thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 277 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

(3.) THE prosecution represented by the Income-tax Officer, Salary Circle, Madras-6, in its endeavour to prove the above charges framed against the accused below, since the accused are presumed innocent and the prosecution being burdened with proof beyond reasonable doubts of the facts and circumstances of the case, would examine four witnesses for oral evidence as P.Ws. Nos. 1 to 4, and also would mark 26 documents for documentary evidence as exhibits P-1 to P-26 and on the part of the accused the evidence placed in all is nil. THE court below in assessing the above evidence placed in the context of the provisions of law under which the accused came to be charged and weighing the evidence to the required norms of law and appreciating the same in its own way would ultimately arrive at the decision to acquit all the three accused therein holding them not guilty, since the prosecution had failed to prove its case with proper evidence to the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubts.