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TMI Blog1991 (4) TMI 72X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 38,159 and a speculation loss of Rs. 13,169. Copies of the profit and loss account, trading account, interest account, balance-sheet and other statements of account duly signed by its partner, Shri Radha Kishan, arrayed as accused No. 2 in the complaint filed by the Income-tax Officer, A-Ward, Hissar, against the firm and its three partners, were also filed therewith. The Income-tax Officer, Hissar, detected that the assessee had not shown any profit or loss in binola (cotton seeds) account, kapas account and cotton account nor had any profit or loss been shown in cotton and binola accounts which the assessee might have earned or incurred on account of speculation transactions shown in these two accounts ; nor had he shown them in the co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed lower appellate court set aside the conviction of the three accused as also the sentence passed upon them by the learned trial court. All the three accused were, therefore, acquitted by it. Feeling aggrieved therefrom, the Commissioner of Income-tax, Haryana, has filed Criminal Appeal No. 204-DBA of 1982, in this court. Hence the appeal. We have heard Shri A. K. Mittal, Advocate, for the appellant, Shri U. D. Gaur, Advocate, for the respondents-accused and have carefully gone through the material on record. Referring to the observations made in A. D. Jayaveerapandia Nadar and Co. v. ITO [1975] 101 ITR 390 (Mad), CIT v. Jagdish Lal Behl [1983] 139 ITR 622 (P H) and Bhagat Singh v. ITO [1985] 152 ITR 82 (P H), it was contended that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... counts, which were later detected or that Shri Dharampal, on account of omission or negligence, failed to show the account in the, statements filed and in the return filed with the Income-tax Department. This plea is quite plausible and indeed appears to be correct. The learned lower court has not given sufficient reasons for rejecting the plea and for rejecting the statement of Chhabil Dass. The learned lower court has rejected the statement of Chhabil Dass simply on the ground that the appellants have failed to produce Shri Dharampal, the chartered accountant. In my opinion, this is not sufficient reason by itself, or otherwise for rejecting the statement of Chhabil Dass or for rejecting the explanation given by the appellants in regard t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... liance on the decision in the case of Addl. CIT v. Smt. Triveni Devi [1974] 97 ITR 390 (All), wherein it was observed as follows : 'A firm, even though it is an assessable unit for purposes of incometax, is not a legal person or a juridical entity. Thus, any tax imposed on firm is, in fact, a tax upon the partners. Penalty is nothing but an additional tax and the principle contained in section 86(iii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, would apply as much to penalty as to tax. Even if penalty is regarded as punishment, a person cannot be punished more than once in respect of the same offence. Hence, penalty for concealment of income cannot be levied once in the hands of the firm and again in the hands of its partners'. " That mens rea is an e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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