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TMI Blog1972 (1) TMI 22X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nalty on the assessee under the provisions of section 271(1)(c) of the income-tax Act, 1961, was legal, valid and proper ? " The assessment year was 1960-61 and the corresponding accounting period is the year that ended on March 31, 1960. In the assessment for that year the account books of the assessee were rejected and an estimate was made of his income by taking the gross profit to be 6% of the turnover. Further, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, on the ground that there had been concealment of income, added a sum of Rs. 25,000 and further sums of Rs. 43,400, Rs. 7,911 and Rs. 11,000. In further appeal before the Appellate Tribunal, the amount of Rs. 11,000 was omitted, but the other additions were sustained. We may mention here tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (b), in addition to any tax payable by him, a sum which shall not be less than ten per cent. but which shall not exceed fifty per cent. of the amount of the tax, if any, which would have been avoided if the income returned by such person had been accepted as the correct income ; (iii) in the cases referred to in clause (c), in addition to any tax payable by him, a sum which shall not be less than twenty per cent. but which shall not exceed one and a half times the amount of the tax, if any, which would have been avoided if the income as returned by such person had been accepted as the correct income. " It is not contended before us that concealment need not be established or that deliberate furnishing of inaccurate particulars thereof ne ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hed goods on an estimate basis. To suit the explanation, the assessee had to recast the entire stock particulars and the valuation as would be seen from the following figures : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement of stock and value as Statement of stock and value as furnished before the Income-tax furnished before the Appellate Asst.Officer. Commissioner. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 900 tins @ Rs. 50 per tin 115 tins @ Rs. 25 1,000 tins @ Rs. 25 " 948 tins @ Rs. 21.87 1,000 tins @ Rs. 18 " 1,680 tin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lly returned. Since no penalty was contemplated in the original assessment proceedings, we consider that some relief in the amount of penalty is called for. We would reduce it to Rs. 20,000. We direct the officer to refund the balance amount if already collected. " The Tribunal's order is annexure " K ". To understand the import of these paragraphs, we may add that the assessee had an explanation regarding the 471 bags of raw nuts, which were admittedly pledged to the bank and for the failure to show 471 bags of raw nuts as raw nuts in the closing stock in the accounts of the assessee. His case was that the 471 bags of raw nuts were also included among the processed nuts which were reflected in the account books of the assessee, and to sub ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d admittedly deposited in a bank was rejected, and the amount added as his income in the assessment proceedings. When action for imposition of penalty was taken under section 271(1)(c) it was contended that the ingredients that should be satisfied for the application of the section had not been made out. This contention was accepted by the Supreme Court and their Lordships came to two conclusions : the first of the conclusions is : " The section is penal in the sense that its consequences are intended to be an effective deterrent which will put a stop to practices which the legislature considers to be against the public interest. " Having said so, they proceeded to deal with the next question and we shall extract the paragraph dealing wit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ference that the disputed amount represents income. It cannot be said that the finding given in the assessment proceedings for determining or computing the tax is conclusive. However, it is good evidence. Before penalty can be imposed the entirety of circumstances must reasonably point to the conclusion that the disputed amount represented income and that the assessee had consciously concealed the particulars of his income or had deliberately furnished inaccurate particulars. In the present case, it was neither suggested before the High Court nor has it been contended before us that, apart from the falsity of the explanation given by the assessee, there was cogent material or evidence from which it could be inferred that the assessee had c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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