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Issues:
1. Interpretation of the provision of section 25(1) of the Bihar Agricultural Income-tax Act regarding the payment of tax for appeal consideration. 2. Determination of the critical date for the accrual of the right of appeal for the assessee. 3. Application of the legal principle regarding the initiation of assessment proceedings and its impact on the right of appeal. Analysis: The judgment by the High Court of Patna involved a case where the assessee was issued a notice for assessment under the Bihar Agricultural Income-tax Act for the accounting years 1949-50 and 1950-51. The Agricultural Income-tax Officer made assessments based on "best judgment" and imposed tax liabilities on the assessee. The Deputy Commissioner of Agricultural Income-tax dismissed the appeals filed by the assessee for failure to pay the prescribed percentage of tax assessed, as required by the proviso to section 25(1) of the Act. The primary issue revolved around the interpretation of the statutory provision in section 25(1) regarding the necessity of paying a certain percentage of tax assessed for the appeal to be entertained. The assessee argued that the right of appeal was a substantive right vested upon the initiation of assessment proceedings, and the retrospective amendment to section 25(1) did not affect this right. The court analyzed the timing of the creation of the right of appeal and emphasized that the critical date for the accrual of this right is the date of initiation of assessment proceedings, not the date of tax liability creation. The court cited legal precedents, including the decision in Garikapatti Veeraya v. Subbiah Choudhury, to support the view that the right of appeal accrues to the litigant from the commencement of the legal proceedings. The judgment highlighted that the date of the initiation of the lis or proceeding, marked by the notice under section 19(2) of the Act, determines the accrual of the right of appeal. For the accounting year 1949-50, where the notice was issued before the amendment to section 25(1), the proviso did not apply, and the Deputy Commissioner erred in rejecting the appeal based on non-payment of the prescribed tax percentage. In conclusion, the High Court held that for the accounting year 1949-50, the proviso to section 25(1) did not apply, and the appeal should not have been rejected for non-payment of the tax proportion. However, for the accounting year 1950-51, where the notice was issued after the amendment, the proviso was applicable. The court answered the legal question accordingly, emphasizing the importance of the critical date of initiation of assessment proceedings in determining the accrual of the right of appeal.
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