The Central Board of Excise and Customs has threatened to take Kingfisher Airlines to court for evading service tax and not depositing the taxes collected from travellers.
“They (Kingfisher) have to face the court. Evasion has already taken place. They can even be jailed.
“There are two things — the dues have to be recovered and whatever punishment has to be given (by courts),” the Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Mr S.K. Goel, said on Saturday.
The Department has already frozen several accounts of the airline for non-payment of dues which run to over Rs 75 crore.
Incidentally, the airline has informed the CBEC that it will pay the dues by March 31.
The Chairman added that Kingfisher had collected service tax at 10 per cent from its passengers, but did not pay this to the Government.
“So it is an evasion. For evasion there is a criminal liability under which courts are empowered to take action once it is proved that they have evaded tax. That action will be taken,” he said.