Supreme Court to see if Black Money Act can be used retrospectively
Supreme Court has agreed to look into the retrospective applicability of a provision in the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, under which the revenue department can initiate criminal prosecution against businesspeople for violations that were allegedly committed much before the law came into force.
A bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka, while issuing notices to various businessmen, stayed the Karnataka High Court's June judgment that held retrospective applicability of section 72 of the 2015 Act as unconstitutional. The apex court posted the matter for further hearing on September 20.
On June 7, the high court had held that criminal prosecution initiated for acts done prior to the enactment of the law were not valid under Article 20 of the Constitution. The order was pronounced in the case of Dhanashree Ravindra Pandit.
This means that given the special nature and object of the Act, the proceedings can be initiated in the year such undisclosed foreign assets come to the notice of the tax officer, irrespective of when they were actually acquired.
Challenging the decision, the tax department told the Supreme Court that the high court failed to appreciate that the provisions of the Act became applicable only when the accused failed to declare the undisclosed foreign asset made or acquired prior to the law taking effect, within the deadline July-September 2015 period notified under section 59 of the Act.
«The interpretation adopted by the HC would substantially defeat the
