CHANDIGARH:A district court sent a Shimla man to three months of rigorous imprisonment for failing to file his income tax return on time.

The court of chief judicial magistrate Akshdeep Mahajan also imposed a fine of ₹8,000 on the convict, Sanjay Kumar Sood, for wilfully failing to furnish return of his income.

Deputy commissioner of income tax Laganpreet Sandhu had moved a complaint against Sood, mentioning that Sood had not filed tax return worth ₹13.8 lakh on the due date for the assessment year 2012-13, which was September 30, 2012.

The complaint mentioned that Sood, without any reasonable cause, had instead filed the return on April 2, 2013 (beyond the deadline).

Accordingly, a show-cause notice dated February 5, 2014 was issued to him, in a reply to which he claimed that he had deposited the tax voluntarily as March 31, 2013, was a Sunday and April 1 was a bank holiday relating to assessment year 2012-13.

Sood’s reply claimed that the belated return was voluntarily submitted within time allowed under section 139(4) of the Income Tax Act, so there was no intent on his part to evade tax before any notice was issued.

However, the complaint said the notice was issued only after obtaining the requisite sanction under Section 279 (1) of the Act.

Meanwhile, Sood’s counsel had submitted that instant prosecution against the accused was illegal, and on account of ulterior motive by the officers of income tax department.

It was also contended that Sood had filed the return for the assessment year 2011-12 in time and that for 2012-13 was also filed in time with tax on the delayed period.