Report No. 61
Point 13-Punishment Under Section 10, Central Sales Tax Act
Punishment for the offence of making false statements in declaration,s- under the Act, should be dealt with on the basis of the amount involved, that is to say, by regulating the punishment according to the amount of tax which would have been evaded if the statement by the assessee (discovered to be false), had been accepted as true. If, say, the amount of such tax exceeds ten thousand rupees, or if the case is one of a second or subsequent conviction, the maximum punishment could be seven year's imprisonment, with a suitable minimum in other cases, the maximum imprisonment could be three years with. fine as an alternative), but there need be no minimum. In that case, section 10 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956, could be revised as follows:--
"10, If any person-
[(a) to (f) as in existing section], he shall be punishable
(i) If the amount of tax which would have been evaded if the offence had not been discovered or the amount illegally collected, as the case may be, exceeds ten thousand rupees, or if the case is one of a second or subsequent conviction for an offence under this Act, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years but which shall not be less than six months, and with fine;
(ii) in any other case, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both; and when the offence is a continuing one, the find under sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) of this clause, may be a daily fine which may extend to fifty rupees for every day during which the offence continues.
(Chapter 5]
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