1971 (1) TMI 37 - HC - Income Tax

Registration of Firm - whether appeal lies against ITO s refusal to certify continuation of registration of firm

Summary

Issues:
1. Appeal against order refusing to register a firm.
2. Maintainability of appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner.
3. Revision application seeking relief against the Income-tax Officer's order.
4. Consideration of revision application by the Additional Commissioner.

Analysis:

1. The main issue in this case is whether the order of the Income-tax Officer refusing to continue the registration of the firm for the assessment year 1965-66 can be considered as an order under section 185(1)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The court analyzed the provisions of sections 184 and 185 of the Act, which deal with the registration of firms. It was observed that the order refusing to register a firm under section 185(1)(b) pertains to the initial registration of a firm, whereas section 184(7) deals with the continuation of registration for subsequent assessment years if certain conditions are met, including no change in the constitution of the firm. The court held that the Income-tax Officer's order in this case did not fall under section 185(1)(b), and therefore, there was no appeal available against that order.

2. The court also addressed the issue of the maintainability of the appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. It was argued by the petitioners that the appeal was maintainable, contrary to the decision of the revenue authorities. However, the court upheld the decision of the revenue authorities, stating that there was no appeal against the Income-tax Officer's order in this case.

3. Another issue raised was the revision application seeking relief against the Income-tax Officer's order. The Additional Commissioner had not considered this aspect of the matter in the impugned order. The court noted that the revision application should have been considered against the Income-tax Officer's order as well. The petitioners had requested the setting aside of the Income-tax Officer's order and an opportunity to rectify any defects. The court directed the Additional Commissioner to consider the revision application against the Income-tax Officer's order.

4. Lastly, the court addressed the consideration of the revision application by the Additional Commissioner. The court observed that the Additional Commissioner had only examined the question of the appeal's maintainability before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and had not considered the merits of the case regarding the defect in the declaration filed before the Income-tax Officer. The court directed the Additional Commissioner to reconsider the revision application against the Income-tax Officer's order in light of the observations made in the judgment.

In conclusion, the court allowed the petition, set aside the order of the Additional Commissioner, and directed a reconsideration of the revision application against the Income-tax Officer's order.