1996 (1) TMI 88

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..... pal, the Tribunal has stated the case and referred the undernoted question under section 27(1) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (for short, " the Act "), for our opinion : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is correct in holding that reference by the Wealth-tax Officer to the Valuation Officer as to the properties was bad in law and as such the report of the Va .....

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..... de a best judgment assessment under section 16(5) of the Act, vide consolidated order dated March 12, 1984 (annexure-A). The assessee filed the appeal before the Commissioner of Wealth-tax (Appeals) who sustained the order (annexure-B). The assessee then filed a second appeal before the Tribunal. The Tribunal held that no reference could be made to the Valuation Officer after completion of the ori .....

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..... e Act. Under section 17, the Assessing Officer may reassess the net wealth if he has reason to believe that net wealth chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for that year. In the instant case, the assessment was completed under section 16 of the Act. Reference was not made to the Valuation Officer under section 16A of the Act for the purpose of making the assessment. After completion of the a .....

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..... geable to wealth-tax has escaped assessment. The material to form such a view must be available with the Assessing Officer. In the instant case, no such material was available with the Assessing Officer. In fact, he referred the matter to the Valuation Officer to collect the material and then initiated proceedings. Such a procedure is not shown to be backed by any provision under the Act. The proc .....

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..... unal is correct in holding that reference by the Wealth-tax Officer to the Valuation Officer as to the properties after completion of assessment, was bad in law and, as such, the report of the officer could not become the basis of furnishing reason to believe that net wealth chargeable to tax has escaped assessment. In the result, we answer the question in the affirmative, i.e., in favour of the .....

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