The court, in an order issued on Thursday, said the Chinese multinational, under scanner in many countries for security reasons, hampered and stifled the search operations of authorized agents.
“The culpable mental state of the accused must be presumed. There are sufficient documents on file to summon the company and four defendants for committing an offense punishable under Section 275-B read together with Section 278-B of the Income Tax Act,” the court said. The offense carries a maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment.
Before issuing the order, the court reviewed statements and other documents submitted by Huawei officials. The court said it was apparent from the statements and other attached documents that the company deliberately misled investigators.
The court order said: ‘It appears that the defendants were only trying to somehow confuse the authorized officer in order to deny access to the company’s books and other documents. An unreasonably long delay was also requested by the defendants to provide data and information, which should have been readily available from the company,” the Economic Times reported.
In addition to the CEO, the court subpoenaed deputy chief financial officer Sandeep Bhatia, tax chief Amit Duggal and transfer pricing chief Long Cheng.
In February, the IT department conducted raids and raids on company premises in Gurgaon and Karnataka, including Li’s residence.
