The COMMISSIONER INLAND REVENUE, ZONE-III, LARGE TAXPAYERS, KARACHI vs ADAM SUGAR MILLS LTD

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The COMMISSIONER INLAND REVENUE, ZONE-III, LARGE TAXPAYERS, KARACHI VS ADAM SUGAR MILLS LTD., KARACHI Ss. 40 & 40a---Searches under warrant---Scope---Section 40a (since omitted) was to be applied only where an officer of sales tax not below the rank of an assistant Collector has reasons to believe that any documents or things which, in his opinion, may be useful for, or relevant to, any proceedings under this act are concealed or kept in any place and that there is a danger that they may be removed before a search can be effected under S. 40, he may, after preparing a statement in writing of the ground of his belief for which search is to be made, search or cause search to be made in his presence for such documents or things in that place. S.38---authorized officers to have access to premises, stocks, accounts and records---Scope---Section 38 of the Sales Tax act, 1990, permits an officer authorized by the Federal Board of Revenue or the Commissioner Inland Revenue to have free access to business or manufacturing premises, registered office or any other place whereby any stocks, business records or documents required under this act are kept or maintained belonging to any registered person; and such officer may, at any time, inspect the goods, stocks, records, data, documents, correspondence, accounts and statements, utility bills, bank statements, information regarding nature or sources of funds or assets with which his business is financed and any other records or documents and may take into custody such records, statements, diskettes, documents or any part thereof, in original or copies thereof in such form as the authorized officer may deem fit against a signed receipt---While taking cognizance under this provision, inter alia, the authorized officer must restrict himself to the record/documents that are in plain sight or voluntarily made available by the person present at the premises, for the purposes of inspection and taking into custody---This provision does not envisage any authority to compel the production of any record or document that is not presented voluntarily---any record or document forcibly taken into custody must not be used adversely against the person from whose custody it was taken---Powers under this provision, by no stretch of imagination, can compromise the fundamental rights and constitutional guarantees embedded in the Constitution. Ss. 38 & 40---authorized officers to have access to premises, stocks, accounts and records---Searches under warrant---Scope---Failure to place any material before the Court to establish that there are sufficient reasons and grounds for by-passing normal course of action specified in S. 40 and non-satisfaction of pre-requisites mentioned in S. 40a renders the action taken under S. 38 unsustainable---Sections 40 & 40a are aimed as to curtail and monitor the unlimited and unbridled powers of the Sales Tax authorities to avoid undue harassment to the taxpayers.

The COMMISSIONER INLAND REVENUE, ZONE-III, LARGE TAXPAYERS, KARACHI vs ADAM SUGAR MILLS LTD — 2023 PTD 1410 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

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