The Delhi High Court made its displeasure clear over the arrest of a senior official of MakeMyTrip India over claims of tax evasion..A Division Bench of Justices S. Murlidhar and Vibhu Bakhru asked the Union Government whether it was interpreting a fiscal statute (the Finance Act) in a way to give police powers to the tax officers..The Court was hearing a plea filed by MakeMyTrip against the arrest of one of its senior officials for alleged service tax evasion of Rs. 67.44 crore..The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) had registered a case against the company for allegedly not depositing service tax to the government which it had collected from the customers. The concerned official was arrested on January 8, and produced before the Magistrate on January 9, before being released on bail on January 11..On the last date of hearing, the Bench had questioned the Tax department over the implications of Section 73A of the Act. Yesterday, V Lakshmikumaran who appeared for the Petitioner, challenged the abuse of power under Section 73 of the Finance Act, 1994 under which the Service Tax Commissioner can order for arrest of a defaulter..The Bench has now directed the Government, represented by ASG Sanjay Jain, to instruct the concerned officers who carried out the arrest to personally file an affidavit explaining their conduct. It also directed MakeMyTrip to file an affidavit and name these officials who allegedly threatened arrest..These affidavits have to be filed before the next date of hearing in the case on March 30.
The Delhi High Court made its displeasure clear over the arrest of a senior official of MakeMyTrip India over claims of tax evasion..A Division Bench of Justices S. Murlidhar and Vibhu Bakhru asked the Union Government whether it was interpreting a fiscal statute (the Finance Act) in a way to give police powers to the tax officers..The Court was hearing a plea filed by MakeMyTrip against the arrest of one of its senior officials for alleged service tax evasion of Rs. 67.44 crore..The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) had registered a case against the company for allegedly not depositing service tax to the government which it had collected from the customers. The concerned official was arrested on January 8, and produced before the Magistrate on January 9, before being released on bail on January 11..On the last date of hearing, the Bench had questioned the Tax department over the implications of Section 73A of the Act. Yesterday, V Lakshmikumaran who appeared for the Petitioner, challenged the abuse of power under Section 73 of the Finance Act, 1994 under which the Service Tax Commissioner can order for arrest of a defaulter..The Bench has now directed the Government, represented by ASG Sanjay Jain, to instruct the concerned officers who carried out the arrest to personally file an affidavit explaining their conduct. It also directed MakeMyTrip to file an affidavit and name these officials who allegedly threatened arrest..These affidavits have to be filed before the next date of hearing in the case on March 30.
