Not furnishing data by a company under the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008, may seem to be a trivial offence, but, in effect, has a major impact on the process of planning of economic policies of a nation, the High Court of Karnataka has said.
As India is associated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its Special Data Dissemination Standards, and SAARC Social Charter, the gap in data collection would also impact various international commitments and implementation of national programmes, the court said.
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“It is in public domain that Indian statistical system is one of the best systems in the world. The country participates in all the international and regional organisations of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on statistical compliances and international practices. It is, therefore, the necessity of statistical data to be given by every company, as responsible business houses, who have their company on the soil of the nation,” the court observed.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna made these observations while dismissing a petition filed by Masturlal Private Limited, a Bengaluru-based textile company.
The judgment assumes importance as it for the first time since the enactment of Collection of Statistics Act in 2008, which makes it mandatory for certain categories of industries to furnish necessary data annually, that the legality of its provisions are being examined by a High Court.
Company was convicted in 2013 for not furnishing data
The company was prosecuted in 2012 for not furnishing annual data as per Section 15(1) of the Act. In 2013, a magistrate court had convicted the company and imposed a fine ₹6,000 after the company pleaded guilty. At that time, the company had said that it could not furnish data as its accounts officer was seriously ill, and later succumbed to illness, and in the same year, the company’s chairman also passed away.
Company is a repeat offender in withholding data
As the company did not furnish the required data even two years after the conviction, in 2015, the National Sample Survey Office prosecuted the company again under Section 15(2), which mandates that the company, after being convicted for the first violation, can be prosecuted further if the data is not submitted within 14 days of conviction. The company, if found guilty under Section 15(2), is liable for a penalty of up to ₹5,000 per day for delay in submission of data.
When the trial was at an advanced stage, in 2022, the company knocked on the doors of the High Court of Karnataka contending that it cannot be prosecuted twice for the same offence.
Rejecting the company’s contention, the High Court said it does not amount to double prosecution for the same offence, as Section 15(2) treats non-furnishing of data even after conviction as a separate offence.
‘Face wrath of law’
“It becomes imperative for every stakeholder under the Act to furnish its statistics annually, diligently as is required under the law, or to face the wrath of Section 15 of the Act,” the court said while pointing that collection of data from certain segments of the industrial sector is crucial for framing policies, meeting challenges arising out of liberalisation, globalisation, etc.
The rigour of the Act cannot be whittled down or diluted to suit the convenience of any person or company, and any supposed difficulty would not justify diluting the rigour of the statute, the court said.
