9911796707
TMI Blog2009 (4) TMI 316X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ibunal was perfectly justified in imposing the penalty. - 59 of 2002 with 420 of 2004 - - - Dated:- 27-4-2009 - S.K. KATRIAR and KISHORE K. MANDAL JJ Sandeep Kumar and Alok Kumar Shahi for the appellant. Harshwardhan Prasad and Rishi Raj Sinha for the respondents. JUDGMENT 1. The appellant in the two appeals is a doctor and gynaecologist and obstetrician and an assessee under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter to be referred to as "the Act". The appeals are with respect to the assessment year 1994-95 Miscellaneous Appeal No. 59 of 2002 is with respect to the order of assessment whereby the figures returned by the assessee have been disbelieved, leading to enhancement of gross income. Miscellaneous Appeal No. 420 of 2004 is consequential in nature, whereby penalty have been imposed on the assessee and the dues. have been directed to be recovered with interest. 2. The basic facts necessary for the disposal of the appeal shall be drawn from Miscellaneous Appeal No. 59 of 2002, except by specific reference to Miscellaneous Appeal No. 420 of 2004. The assessee at the relevant point of time was in the service of the Bihar Government as a docto ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me. The same is without any factual basis and is arbitrary. He relies on the judgment of the Privy Council in the case of CIT v. Laxmjnarain Badridas [1937] 5 ITR 170. While pressing the analogous Miscellaneous Appeal No. 420 of 2004, whereby the penalty and interest have been imposed on the assessee, learned counsel for the assessee submits that penalty can be imposed only if dishonest intention is attributable to the assessee. Mere difference of opinion on the returned figures cannot justify imposition of penalty. He relies on the following reported judgments : (i) CIT v. Sardar Bhagat Singh [1983] 142 ITR 836 (Patna); and (ii) CIT v. Nipani Tobacco Stores [1984] 145 ITR 128 (Patna). 5. Learned senior standing counsel supports the impugned order and submits that the learned Assessing Officer has derived the facts from the materials on record and is not based on conjectures. He submits that the case set up by the assessee that her father-in-law had an agricultural income of Rs. 44,000 has been found to be completely unsupportable by documentary evidence. 6. We have perused the materials on record and considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... authorities. After her marriage she allowed Dr. Shipra Roy to live with her, which fact is conclusive of their normal and cordial relations." 8. In other words, the learned Tribunal concluded on the basis of the materials that there was no inhibiting factor to prevent the parents from celebrating the marriage of their daughter. 9. The next question which arises for consideration is quantification of the amount spent over the wedding reception. It appears to us that the learned Tribunal has made an abnormally conservative estimate of expenses with respect to the daughter's marriage of successful and affluent gynaecologist.. Her father was also a Patna-based professor of Indian History, and the family was in a position to spend much more than the amount of Rs. 2,00,000. Another important aspect of the matter is that the assessee claimed that the amount has been spent by the father-in-law has been discarded, inter alia, on the ground that her claim that the father-in-law had disclosed the agricultural income of Rs 44,000, has been found to be false, by the authorities, not having been disclosed in his returns. This is, once again a question of fact with which this court would ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of the facts placed by the assessee in our hands … … search and seizure operations were conducted at the residential premises of the assessee and cash amounting to Rs. 26,05,915 was seized from their . . She was continuously residing there in the said house along with the assessee, even after her marriage … This could happen only on account of normal and cordial relations between the assessee and Dr. Shipra Roy . . . Hefty sum of Rs. 20 lakhs were claimed by a student as her earning through the Institute . . . Contradictory stands of the assessee makes us to comment that she wants to play on both sides of the fence. These facts lead us to conclude that the assessee performed the marriage of her daughter whole heartedly. She tried to take the benefit out of the fact that her daughter performed a love marriage to hoodwink the taxing authorities. After her marriage, she allowed Dr. Shipra Roy to live with her, which fact is conclusive of their normal and cordial relations." Commenting on the order of the learned Commissioner of Income-tax, the learned Tribunal has held: "He had not grasped the facts in toto and reached a perverse conclusion." 12. It is thus evident on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
