9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (4) TMI 25X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment of the assessment year 1972-73, in the normal course, expired on March 31, 1975, in accordance with the provisions of section 153 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Assessing Officer completed the assessment under section 144 of the Act on January 18, 1975. This assessment was however, reopened on March 31, 1975, under section 146 of the Act. A fresh assessment therefore, should have been completed in the normal course in accordance with the limitation prescribed by sub-section (2A) of section 153 of the Act on or before March 31, 1977. However, as the addition in the case of the assessee was of more than Rs. 1 lakh, the Income-tax Officer framed a draft assessment order in terms of section 144B of the Act and forwarded the said draft assessment to the applicant along with the forwarding letter dated February 28, 1977. The said letter, was however, registered at the post office on March 10, 1977, and was served on the applicant on March 28, 1977. The applicant filed objections to the draft assessment order on April 4, 1977. The Inspecting Assistant Commissioner issued directions under section 144B of the Act to the Income-tax Officer on July 29, 1977, which were received by him ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an Lal Behari Lal v. CWT [1975] 98 ITR 359, the terms "issued and served" were interchangeable and that in the legislative practice they were sometimes used to convey the same idea. According to the applicant, the word "forward" had the same meaning as the word "issue" and, therefore the word "forward" should also be equated with the word "served". According to the applicant, if any other interpretation was given then it would mean that the Income-tax Officer could just sign an order and keep it with him for any length of time and thereby extend the period of limitation arbitrarily. According to the applicant, unless the applicant received the draft order, it could not be said that the order was forwarded to him because until the order was served on it, it would have no legal consequence. The Tribunal did not agree with the contentions of the applicant that the word "forward" should be equated with the word "issued" and " served". According to the Tribunal, the word "forward" has been used by the Legislature in contradistinction to the words "issue" and "served". Relying on the dictionary meaning of the word "forward", the Tribunal held that the said word denotes a stage when a d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an be taken to be the date on which the Income-tax Officer has forwarded the draft assessment order, and, therefore, the assessment order passed on August 24, 1977, is clearly barred by limitation as provided under section 153(2A) of the Act. Shri A. N. Mahajan, learned counsel for the Department, however, submitted that the date on which the Income-tax Officer has signed the draft assessment order and forwarded the letter, i.e., March 28, 1977, should be taken as the date of forwarding the draft assessment order, therefore, the Income-tax Officer could have passed the final assessment order within 31 days from July 29, 1977, i.e., the date on which he received the instructions from the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner. The assessment order passed on August 24, 1977 is, therefore, well within limitation. Shri A. N. Mahajan, further submitted that even if March 10, 1977, is taken to be the date on which the Income-tax Officer has forwarded the draft assessment order, in view of the provisions of section 153(2A) of the Act read with clause (iv) of Explanation 1, the limitation for completing the assessment stood extended by the period taken between the forwarding of the draft asse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1975. Thus, the Income-tax Officer could have completed the assessment latest by March 31, 1977, in the normal course. However, in view of the fact that the proposed addition was more than Rs. 1 lakh, the Income-tax Officer had to comply with the provisions of section 144B of the Act. Clause (iv) of Explanation 1 to section 153 excludes the period not exceeding 180 days commencing from the date on which the Assessing Officer forwards the draft order under sub-section (1) of section 144B to the assessee and ending with the date on which the Assessing Officer receives the direction from the Deputy Commissioner under sub-section (4) of that section. In the present case, there is no dispute on the dates mentioned above. The question is only regarding the interpretation of the word "forward" used in sub-section (1) of section 144B of the Act. Section 144B of the Act, so far as it is relevant is as under: "144B. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where, in an assessment to be made under sub-section (3) of section 143, the Assessing Officer proposes to make, before the 1st day of October 1984, any variation in the income or loss returned which is prejudicial to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n (1) and sub-section (2) of section 144B of the Act. It has to be given the same meaning. It is well settled that when the Legislature uses the same word in different parts of the same section, there is a presumption that the word is used in the same sense throughout. The Legislature had advisedly not used the word "serve" in sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) of section 144B of the Act. Therefore, we do not agree with the submission of Shri Vikram Gulati that the word "forward" occurring in sub-section (1) of section 144B of the Act has been used in the same terms as the words "issue" and "serve". They cannot be equated and, therefore, the date of forwarding cannot be taken as the date on which the assessee had received the draft assessment order, i.e., March 28, 1977. Now the question remains as to what meaning should be given to the word "forward" used in sub-section (1) of section 144B of the Act. The word "forward" has not been defined under the Act. In the Law Lexicon by P. Ramanatha Aiyar, reprint edition 1987, the word "forward" has been given its meaning which is as under : "Forward. As an adjective, in the forepart (Webster Int. Diet). As a verb, to send forward ; ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cial messenger, or by handing it over to a responsible person for posting in the normal course or when a letter is handed over at the post office for delivery to the addressee, it can be said that the letter is forwarded on that date. We are in respectful agreement with the view taken by the Madras High Court, Madhya Pradesh High Court, Orissa High Court and the Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the cases referred to above and are of the view that the word "forward" occurring in section 144B(1) of the Act can be given only one meaning, i.e., when the order is despatched in the usual course either through special messenger or by handing it over to any responsible person for posting in the normal course or when the letter is handed over at the post office for delivery to the addressee. In the present case, there is no whisper whatsoever in any of the orders of any of the authorities as to what steps were taken by the Income-tax Officer after he signed the draft assessment order on February 28, 1977, and till the same was handed over to the postal authorities on March 10, 1977. Whether it was lying in his office or was given to the process server for being served on the assessee personall ..... 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