# Naftogaz India MD gets 22-month jail for TDS default 2026-08-24T18:51:29+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A Delhi court sentenced Mahdoom Bava, managing director of Naftogaz India Pvt Ltd, to one year and 10 months' rigorous imprisonment for failing to deposit Rs 17.69 crore in tax deducted at source (TDS) with the government in FY 2009-10. Additional chief judicial magistrate Renu Chaudhary also imposed a Rs 10 lakh fine on Bava and an equal fine on the company. The court ruled that the offence is complete upon failure to deposit TDS within the prescribed period, and that the company's subsequent liquidation does not erase the completed offence. It also held that winding up cannot absolve a director whose guilt under section 278B has been established. Bava will face an additional three months in jail if he fails to pay the fine. The court suspended his sentence for 30 days and granted him bail, with the next hearing listed for 25 September 2026. ## Indian Opinion Analysis This is the first time a TDS default has resulted in a jail term for a company director under the Income Tax Act, 1961, which has long carried criminal penalties for wilful non-deduction or non-payment. The prosecution was launched after a survey found Naftogaz held Rs 44 crore in fixed deposits while owing Rs 21.22 crore in TDS. The ruling establishes that liquidation proceedings do not shield directors from criminal liability, a signal to promoters of stressed companies that tax defaults will be pursued personally. The trial court's next date is 25 September 2026. This case is a significant deterrent for corporate directors, as it demonstrates that tax authorities are now willing to pursue criminal prosecution aggressively, even for defaults dating back over a decade. ## Coverage - livemint.com Straight news agency-style reporting with no discernible slant, leads with the court sentence and frames it as a tougher stance by tax authorities. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: income tax department, Mahdoom Bava, Naftogaz India Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/naftogaz-india-md-gets-22-month-jail-for-tds-default/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/naftogaz-india-md-gets-22-month-jail-for-tds-default/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/