2012 (4) TMI 488 - HC - Income Tax

Jurisdiction Power of Commissioner - Assessee s claim in respect of deductions on account of payment of bonus was allowed under Section 43B of the Act - said claim had been allowed in the assessment year 1994-95 also - proceedings initiated for rectification under Section 154/155 were dropped - initiation of suo motu revisional jurisdiction by seeking to revise order of assessment in lieu of the interest of Revenue as the assessee had claimed the deduction twice CIT set aside the order of assessment and directed re-computation - the assessee approached Court under Article 226 of the Constitution - writ petition was opposed and it was submitted that merely because rectification proceedings were dropped, did not affect jurisdiction of the Commissioner under Section 263 Learned Single Judge held that the writ petition could be entertained as order of the Commissioner was without jurisdiction - Held that - the learned Single Judge was not justified in interfering with the order of the Commissioner passed under Section 263 of the Act - an error was noticed by the Commissioner in the order of the AO and thus it could not be held that such an order was beyond the revisional jurisdiction of the Commissioner - allow appeal, set aside the impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge and dismiss the writ petition filed by the respondent assessee.

Issues:
1. Quashing of notice under Section 263 of the Income Tax Act by the learned Single Judge.
2. Jurisdiction of the Commissioner to interfere with the order of assessment.
3. Exercise of suo motu revisional jurisdiction based on error in assessment.
4. Applicability of Section 263 in cases of jurisdictional error.
5. Justifiability of invoking jurisdiction under Section 263 without independent assessment by the Commissioner.
6. Interference with the order of the Assessing Officer by the Commissioner.
7. Alternative remedy of appeal under Section 253(1)(c) of the Act.
8. Correctness of the order passed under Section 263 by the Commissioner.
9. Validity of the decision by the learned Single Judge.

Analysis:

1. The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the order of the learned Single Judge quashing the notice issued under Section 263 of the Income Tax Act. The ground for quashing was that the error sought to be corrected was not a jurisdictional error, and the Commissioner did not have the jurisdiction to interfere with the order of assessment.

2. The issue arose when the assessee claimed deductions for payment of bonus in the assessment year 1995-96, even though the same claim had been allowed in the previous year. The Commissioner initiated suo motu revisional jurisdiction based on this error, leading to the order dated 28.03.2000 directing re-computation of the assessment.

3. The Commissioner's error was based on the fact that the bonus deduction was claimed twice by the assessee. The assessee challenged this under Article 226 of the Constitution, arguing that the jurisdiction under Section 263 should only be invoked for jurisdictional errors, not to substitute the opinion of the Commissioner for that of the Assessing Officer.

4. The writ petition was opposed on the grounds that dropping rectification proceedings did not affect the Commissioner's jurisdiction under Section 263, and the order was appealable under Section 253(1)(c), making the writ petition unnecessary.

5. The learned Single Judge held that the Commissioner exceeded jurisdiction by substituting his opinion for that of the Assessing Officer and by intruding into inquiries properly made by the assessing authority. The Commissioner's reliance on the Audit report was also deemed insufficient to justify the exercise of revisional jurisdiction.

6. The High Court, after hearing the arguments, disagreed with the learned Single Judge's decision and held that the error noticed by the Commissioner justified the exercise of revisional jurisdiction under Section 263. The Court emphasized that the Commissioner did not substitute his opinion but corrected a factual error made by the Assessing Officer.

7. The Court also noted that the availability of alternative remedies like appeal did not bar the Commissioner from exercising revisional jurisdiction when a clear error in the assessment was identified.

8. Therefore, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the order of the learned Single Judge, and dismissed the writ petition filed by the respondent assessee, upholding the validity of the order passed under Section 263 by the Commissioner.

This detailed analysis covers the issues related to the quashing of the notice under Section 263, the jurisdiction of the Commissioner, the exercise of suo motu revisional jurisdiction, and the justifiability of the decision made by the Commissioner in this legal judgment.

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