Page 20 - Banking Finance May 2022

LEGAL UPDATE

from time to time in writing" the Tri- No proceedings against amount of Rs 1,18,850 for registration
bunal pointed out, "but no action has of deed of conveyance.
been taken by the department." Moser Baer Roy also paid an additional Rs. 2 lakh as
If a personal guarantor passes away,
"Once a company is dissolved, it be- contribution towards the corpus fund
comes a non-existent party and there- the proceedings against him shall and for maintenance and other
fore no action can be brought in its abate, the New Delhi bench of the charges. He received possession of the
name. Therefore, in view of the over- National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) row house on April 20, 2004, along with
riding effect of IBC, we hold that the has held, in the case of Alchemist As- amenities such as water supply, electric-
Revenue is not entitled to recover the set Reconstruction Company Vs ity, generator, and security services.
claim," ITAT said. Deepak Puri. Puri was the personal
guarantor of the corporate debtor, Pay penalty for failing to
The precedent cited in this case was a
Moser Baer India Ltd.
decision of the Supreme Court of India, keep books of accounts
in the case of Ghanshyam Mishra & The financial creditor, in this case, had The Pune Bench of the Income-Tax
Sons Vs Edelweiss Asset Reconstruc- filed an application under Section 95 of Appellate Tribunal recently confirmed
tion. In that case, the apex court had the IBC to initiate corporate insolvency the penalty imposed on a doctor under
said: "when the resolution plan is ap- resolution process (CIRP) against Puri. Section 271A of the Income-Tax (I-T)
proved by NCLT, the claims, which are It later came to the notice of the Reso- Act, 1961, for not maintaining books of
not part of the resolution plan, shall lution Professional that the personal accounts.
stand extinguished and the proceed- guarantor Deepak Puri had passed Suresh Surana, founder, RSM India,
ings related thereto shall stand termi- away. says, "According to Section 271A of the
nated."
The Resolution Professional recom- I-T Act, if any person fails to maintain
mended that the proceedings against books of accounts and other docu-
SC: Laundering more hei- the personal guarantor be closed. ments for any financial year, as re-

nous than murder Deepak Puri, Chairman of Moser Baer, quired by Section 44AA and Rule 6F, or
recipient of Padma Shri award in 2010, retain them for seven financial years,
Observing that the offence of money tax authorities can direct him/her to
laundering cannot be treated lightly, was being investigated by the CBI in a pay penalty."
Rs. 727.25 crore bank fraud case. He
the Supreme Court said that it was a
died in California on October 2, 2021. Sections 44AA and 271A of the Act, are
more serious and heinous crime than
murder as it affected the entire interconnected. The former requires
professionals and business persons to
economy whose growth could be put Buyer shouldn't pay for maintain books of accounts, the latter
on hold or derailed because of it. bank's mistake spells out the consequences of not do-
The court is examining the constitu- Pandav Roy had entered into an agree- ing so.
tional validity of various provisions of ment with Merlin Projects for the pur- Ajit Shah, partner, N. A. Shah Associ-
Prevention of Money Laundering Act chase of a row house in a complex ates, says, "Failure to maintain these
(PMLA) for allegedly being violative of called "The Terrace" at Merlin Greens records or retain them for six years
basic principles of natural justice and in South 24 Parganas. The total consid- from the end of the relevant assess-
criminal jurisprudence. eration was Rs 14,25,000, of which Roy ment year can result in a penalty of Rs.

While hearing a batch of petitions, in- paid Rs 2,43,750 as earnest money. 25,000."
cluding those filed by Congress leader Roy approached Union Bank of India to Sameer Jain, managing partner, PSL
Karti Chidambaram and former obtain a home loan of Rs 15 lakh. Upon Advocates & Solicitors, says, "If assess-
Maharashtra home minister Anil sanction, a tripartite agreement was ment under Section 147 is launched,
Deshmukh, the court said such crime executed on January 21, 2004, which then books of accounts and other docu-
affects the integrity and sovereignty of required the bank to pay the builder ments must be retained for six years
the country and that was the purpose the balance of Rs 13,81,250 towards or until the assessment is completed,
for bringing the Act. the row house, and the remaining whichever is later." T

20 | 2022 | MAY | BANKING FINANCE