9911796707
TMI Blog2000 (10) TMI 15X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . A search was carried out at the residential/business premises of the petitioners under the provisions of section 132 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), and the said search was concluded on December 8, 1999. During the course of the search, certain documents and computer floppies, etc., were seized by the respondents and the said material is still in the possession of the respondent authorities. According to the provisions of section 132(8) of the Act, the books of account and other documents seized under the provisions of section 132(1) or section 132(1A) of the Act cannot be retained by the authorised officer for a period exceeding 180 days from the date of the seizure unless the reasons for retaining th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rusal of the reasons, the Commissioner passed an order on April 20, 2000, permitting retention of the seized material till March 31, 2002. As per the report of the Assessing Officer, as proceedings under section 158BC of the Act were pending and as completion of the block assessment was likely to take more time, it was necessary to retain the seized material till March 31, 2002. Thus, the sum and substance of the affidavit-in-reply filed on behalf of the respondents is that the respondent authorities have a right to retain the books of account and other seized material beyond the period of 180 days provided requisite permission is obtained from one of the concerned authorities under section 132 of the Act and as necessary permission has b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... seized by the authorities would become invalid and unlawful. On the basis of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Oriental Rubber Works [1984] 145 ITR 477, it has been submitted by the learned advocate, Shri Puj, that the respondent authorities had not communicated the reasons for which the approval was granted by the Commissioner for retention of the books of account and other seized material beyond the period of 180 days. In the circumstances, the said retention of the books of account should be held to be illegal and the authorities should be directed to forthwith return the books of account to the assessees. The same view was taken by this court in the case of Coswasjee Nusserwanji Dinshaw v. ITO [1987] 165 ITR 702. On ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al belonging to the assessees. Upon perusal of the reasons stated in the application given by the Assessing Officer it is clear that the Assessing Officer wanted to retain the books of account and other material beyond the- period of 180 days because notices under section 158BC under the Act had been issued and, according to the provisions of the Act, the respondent authorities have to complete the assessment on or before December 31, 2001. It has been further stated that for the purpose of completion of some of the consequential procedures, a further period of three months is required and therefore, the Assessing, Officer had prayed for extension up to March 31, 2002, which was duly accorded by the Commissioner. The learned advocate appea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mitting the concerned officer to cause delay in performance of his duty without any justifiable reason will amount to abuse of discretion on the part of the higher authority. Looking to the facts of the case and the provisions of law, we are of the view that simply because the Commissioner has been authorised to accord approval for retention of the books of account and other material beyond the period of 180 days, it would not mean that without recording any special justifiable reason or for a vague reason he should accord his approval to the authorised or Assessing Officer as and when he makes a request for retention of the books of account or other material beyond the period of 180 days. In the circumstances, looking to the facts of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
