Delay is not evasion says Mad HC

Can delayed tax payment become a criminal offence? Madras High Court says, not automatically. Section 276C(2) requires a wilful attempt to evade payment, not merely a tax demand that remained unpaid. 

Here, the demand itself had been corrected under Section 154, there was no allegation of concealment or manipulation, and the tax was ultimately paid. A default may attract recovery; it does not, without more, become evasion.”