The Supreme Court has affirmed a choice of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) acquitting retired Lieutenant General Jacinto Ligot and his spouse, Erlinda, of tax evasion in connection to their P428-million tax deficiency case.
In a 20-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Inting, the Third Division discovered nothing “capricious, whimsical, or even arbitrary” within the CTA’s ruling that the prosecution didn’t show the Ligot couple’s guilt past cheap doubt.
“It is clear from the above-enumerated findings that the CTA resolved the case only after all the evidence was considered, weighed, and passed upon,” the Court mentioned.
“When there is no allegation or proof of mistrial, there is no need for the Court to reexamine the evidence adduced by the parties,” it added.
The resolution was promulgated on December 5, 2022 however launched solely on April 19, 2023.
The case stemmed from the petition of certiorari filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) towards the January 2019 resolution of the CTA that acquitted the Ligot couple and an October 2019 decision that denied the BIR’s movement for reconsideration.
The BIR had accused the couple of failing to produce appropriate info of their revenue tax return and tax evasion from 2002 to 2004.
The High Tribunal mentioned there isn’t a violation of the precept of the hierarchy of courts.
The Court mentioned that CTA Rules state that “it is the CTA En Banc which has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over decisions, resolutions or orders of the CTA Division involving criminal offenses arising from violations of the NIRC,” it mentioned.
The Court additional mentioned that the petition didn’t level to any error of the jurisdiction dedicated by the CTA Third Division.
“Here, the petitioner merely questions the CTA’s appreciation of evidence, particularly those relative to the allegations regarding the accused-respondents’ undeclared income,” it mentioned.
“It is settled, however, that ‘[a]ny error committed in the evaluation of evidence is merely an error of judgment that cannot be remedied by certiorari,” it added.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
