Court to hear IT case against Subrata Roy, others on June 1

A Delhi court on Wednesday fixed June one to hear an Income Tax case in which Sahara Chief Subrata Roy, now lodged in Tihar Jail, and others have been accused of not filing returns for a group company for 2013-14 assessment year.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Devendra Kumar Sharma posted the matterfor further proceedings after the court was informed by the defence counsel that the Delhi High Court has stayed the proceedings of the case till next month.

The court had on March 24 issued production warrant for the appearance of Roy and bailable warrants against J B Roy and Ranoj Das Gupta, two directors of Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd, as they had failed to appear before it inspite of its summons served to them earlier.

Apart from these three, the Income Tax Department has also made the company and another director O P Srivastava accused.

Challenging the trial court order, Subrata Roy, J B Roy and Ranoj Das Gupta had approached the high court which had on March April 10 stayed the proceedings in the case against the five accused and warrants against three of them.

Srivastava has moved the high court seeking to stay the trial court proceedings.

The trial court had earlier put up the matter for today for the appearance of all the accused.

The Income Tax department, on February 13 this year, had filed a complaint in the court against the company and its directors, Subrata Roy, J B Roy, O P Srivastava and Ranoj Das Gupta for not filing income tax return of the company for 2013-14.

They have been booked for the offence of Section 276 CC of the IT Act which deals with failure to furnish return of income in due time.

The court had earlier taken cognizance of the complaint and issued summons to the five accused seeking their presence.

The income tax return was not filed by them till the time of filing of the complaint and cognisance was taken by the court.

The IT department's complaint said several notices were issued to the firm and its directors. In their letters, the accused had sought time to file return but even after granting time, they did not file it within the time sought.

Thereafter, the complaint was filed in the court, it said. Subrata Roy's counsel had argued in the high court that he had resigned from the company in September last year and has nothing to do with the present case.

He had added that even the company, also an accused, has filed IT return on March 23 for 2013-14.

The counsel had said all the accused were outside the jurisdiction of Delhi and they cannot be tried here.