Income Tax Department

Ministry of Finance, Government of India

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Section 278E

Presumption as to culpable mental state

Section

Section Number

278E

Chapter

CHAPTER XXII - OFFENCES AND PROSECUTIONS

Act

Income-tax Act, 1961

Year

2000

Presumption as to culpable mental state

Presumption as to culpable mental state
97 [Presumption as to culpable mental state.
278E. (1) In any prosecution for any offence under this Act which requires a culpable mental state on the part of the accused, the court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an of­fence in that prosecution.
Explanation.—In this sub-section, "culpable mental state" includes intention, motive or knowledge of a fact or belief in, or reason to believe, a fact.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a fact is said to be proved only when the court believes it to exist beyond reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponder­ance of probability.]
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