LexVINUBHAI MOHANLAL DOBARIA versus CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX & ANR
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[2025] 2 S.C.R. 476 : 2025 INSC 155 Vinubhai Mohanlal Dobaria v. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr. (Civil Appeal No. 1977 of 2025) 07 February 2025 [J.B. Pardiwala* and Sanjay Karol, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Whether an offence u/s.276CC of the Income Tax Act, 1961 could be said to have been committed on the actual date of filing of return of income or on the day immediately after the due date for filing of returns as per s.139(1) of the Act; what is the meaning of the expression “first offence” appearing in Clause 8 of the Guidelines for Compounding of Offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2014; what amounts to voluntary disclosure for the purpose of Clause 8 of the 2014 Guidelines; whether the 2014 Guidelines are mandatory or directory in nature. Headnotes† Income Tax Act, 1961 – s.276CC – Compounding of offence – Commission of offence, when – Appellant, an individual earning income by way of salary and also share of profit of partnership firm – Delay in filing the return of income for AY 2011-12 and 2013-14 by appellant – Issuance of show cause notice to the appellant for the AY 2011-12 alleging violation of s.276CC – Application for compounding for AY 2011-12 allowed – Thereafter, the appellant received another show cause notice as regards launching of prosecution for the AY 2013-2014 – Compounding application for AY 2013-14 rejected – Writ petition by appellant that his compounding application was rejected solely on the ground that the offence alleged to have been committed by the appellant of belated filing of the return of income for AY 2013-14 was not covered by the expression “first offence” as defined in the 2014 guidelines, rejected by the High Court – Offence u/s.276CC could be said to have been committed on the actual date of * Author [2025] 2 S.C.R. 477 Vinubhai Mohanlal Dobaria v. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr. filing of return of income or on the day immediately after the due date for filing of returns as per s.139(1): Held: Offence u/s.276CC could be said to have been committed as soon as there is a failure on the part of the assessee in furnishing the return of income within the due time as prescribed u/s.139(1) – Subsequent furnishing of the return of income by the assessee within the time limit prescribed under sub-section (4) of s.139 or before prosecution is initiated does not have any bearing upon the fact that an offence u/s.276CC has been committed on the day immediately following the due date for furnishing return of income – Offence u/s.276CC could be said to have been committed on the dates immediately following the due date for furnishing the return of income for both these assessment years respectively – Date for commission of both of these offences would be the day falling immediately next to the due date for filing of return, that is 01.10.2011 for AY 2011-12 and 01.11.2013 for the AY 2013-14 – Show cause notice for the AY 2011-12 was issued to the appellant on 27.10.2014 – Offence for the AY 2011-12 could be said to have been committed on 01.10.2011 and the offence for the AY 2013- 14 could be said to have been committed on 01.11.2013 – Both the offences u/s.276CC were committed prior to the date of issue of any show cause notice for prosecution – Thus, the offence as alleged to have been committed by the appellant u/s.276CC for the AY 2013-14 is covered by the expression “first offence” as defined under the 2014 Guidelines and thus, the compounding application filed by the appellant could not have been rejected – High Court erred in rejecting the writ petition filed by the appellant against the order passed by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax rejecting the application for compounding – Impugned order passed by the High Court as well as the order passed by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax set aside – Guidelines for Compounding of Offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2014. [Paras 35, 41-43, 69, 70, 81-83] Income Tax Act, 1961 – ss.276CC, 279 – Failure to furnish returns of income – Compounding of Offences – Guidelines for Compounding of Offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2014 – Paragraph 8 – “First offence” – Meaning of: Held: “First offence” is any offence committed prior to the date of issuance of any show cause notice for prosecution in relation to the said offence; or prior to any intimation relating to prosecution by the department to the person concerned or prior to the launching 478 [2025] 2 S.C.R.
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