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TMI Blog1979 (8) TMI 2X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... GWATI. JUDGMENT The judgment of the court was delivered by PATHAK J.-- Is an assessee, who has concealed the particulars of his income, liable to penalty under cl. (iii) of sub-s. (1) of s. 271 of the I. T. Act, 1961, as it stood on the date of the concealment or as it stood during the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the income was earned ? That is the question in this reference made by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal under s. 257 of the I. T. Act. The assessee is a partner in two firms, Messrs. Hindustan Pottery Agency and Messrs. New Crockery House. He filed a return of his total income for the assessment year 1964-65 on April 24, 1968. He disclosed an income of Rs. 460 from his share in the profits ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ibunal rejected the contention. But it reduced the penalty to Rs. 2,955 taking the view that the assessee was guilty of concealing the share income from Messrs. New Crockery House only. The assessee then applied for a reference. The Tribunal saw a conflict of opinion on the point raised by the assessee between the Kerala High Court in Hajee K. Assainar v. CIT [1971] 81 ITR 423 and the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Income Tax Reference No. 45 of 1971, decided on April 25, 1972 (CIT v. Bhan Singh Boota Singh [1974] 95 ITR 562) which had followed Saeed Ahmed v. IAC[1971] 79 ITR 28 decided by the Allahabad High Court. In the circumstances, it made the present reference directly to this court on the following question of law : " Whether the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssessee is that an assessment proceeding for the determination of the total income and the computation of the tax liability must ordinarily be made on the basis of the law prevailing during the assessment year, and inasmuch as concealment of income is concerned with the income relevant for assessment during the assessment year, any penalty imposed in respect of concealment of such income must also be governed by the law pertaining to that assessment year. We are unable to accept the contention. In our opinion, the assessment of the total income and, the computation of tax liability is a proceeding which, for that purpose, is governed by entirely different considerations from a proceeding for penalty imposed for concealment of income. And th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by the end of September, 1964, and inasmuch as the return, although filed as late as April 24, 1968, was accepted by the Income-tax Officer, it should be deemed that the return was treated as filed within time or, in other words, that the return had been filed by September 30, 1964. In that event, the submission continues, the concealment of the particulars of income must be deemed to have taken place when the original cl. (iii) of sub-s. (1) of s. 271 Of the Act was in operation. This contention is also without force. Under s.139 of the Act, although the statute itself prescribes the date by which a return of income must be filed, power has been conferred on the ITO to extend the date of furnishing the return. A return filed within the e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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