Jharkhand HC says Claim of Being Duped by ITR Filer Is a Matter of Defence at Trial

The Jharkhand High Court dismissed a criminal revision challenging the rejection of discharge applications filed by eight employees of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), who were accused in a case involving allegedly false income-tax returns, incorrect deduction claims and generation of fraudulent refunds. The petitioners contended that a co-accused, who handled their income-tax returns and TDS filings, had deceived them and that they had neither received nor encashed the refund cheques. The Court held that these contentions were essentially matters of defence and found no illegality in the trial court's decision refusing discharge.