BMA s.50

BMA s.50 — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section BMA s.50, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• Union of India v Gautam Khaitan Supreme CourtHelps departmentNo later treatment found
  The department says the Black Money Act applies to my foreign account from July 2015. Is that retrospective?
  No. Notifying 1 July 2015 as the commencement date of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015 did not make the Act retrospective. The date was advanced only so the one-time compliance window in s.59 could operate, and tax under s.3 is still charged only from assessment year 2016-17 onwards.
• H.J. Siwani v Income Tax Department High CourtHelps departmentNo later treatment found
  The sanction for my prosecution covers a Black Money Act offence too. Can I get the whole complaint quashed for want of a valid s.55 sanction?
  Not on these facts. The Karnataka High Court held the s.55 point academic because the trial court, while taking cognizance of the Income-tax Act offences, did not take cognizance of the offence under s.50 of the Black Money Act at all. Whether the sanction that was granted is in accordance with law is for the Special Court to decide at trial, not for a petition under s.482 CrPC.
• Sanjay Bhandari v Income Tax Office High CourtHelps departmentNo later treatment found
  The assessment under the Black Money Act is not complete, and may now be time-barred. Can they still summon me on a s.51 complaint?
  Yes. The Delhi High Court refused to quash the summoning order, holding that Chapter V of the Black Money Act stands independent of any order made under the Act, so the initiation of prosecution is not dependent on the completion of assessment provided the ingredients of s.51 are made out. Sections 50 and 51 operate in different realms, and whether the conduct was preparation or a punishable attempt is a matter for trial.
• Sanjay Vijay Shinde v DGIT High CourtHelps taxpayerNo later treatment found
  A prosecution has been sanctioned against me under the Black Money Act. Can I get anticipatory bail?
  On these facts, yes. The Madhya Pradesh High Court granted anticipatory bail to a taxpayer facing prosecution under ss.50 and 51 of the Black Money Act in respect of an undeclared Singapore bank account holding USD 6,856,092.67, on a personal bond of Rs 5,00,000 with one surety, subject to surrender of his passport and availability for interrogation. The Court gave no reasons for the grant.
• Arvind Balkrishna Gogte v Income Tax Department High CourtHelps taxpayerNo later treatment found
  My foreign company was struck off and the bank account closed years before the Black Money Act commenced. Can they still prosecute me for it?
  Not on this authority. The Karnataka High Court quashed eight complaints under ss.50 and 52 of the Black Money Act where the foreign company had been struck off and the Singapore account closed in 2010, holding that the deeming fiction in s.72(c) cannot be stretched to found criminal liability for conduct that preceded the Act. Article 20(1) bars conviction under a law not actually in force when the act was done, and a statutory deeming that the asset was acquired in the year of the s.10 notice does not supply that.
• CBDT instruction of 18 August 2025 on Black Money Act prosecutions CBDT Circulars & InstructionsHelps taxpayer
  The foreign asset is small and no penalty is proposed. Can they still prosecute me for leaving it out of Schedule FA?
  Not on the Board's own instruction. It directs that prosecution under s.49 or s.50 of the Black Money Act is not to be initiated in cases where penalty under s.42 or s.43 is not imposed or not imposable because the asset falls within the proviso to those sections - assets other than immovable property whose aggregate value does not exceed Rs 20 lakh. It amends an earlier instruction of 15 March 2022.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.