9911796707
TMI Blog1962 (2) TMI 131X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is court directed the Tribunal to state a case raising the following question of law : Whether the order of the Tribunal sustaining the imposition of the penalty to the extent it did is valid The facts are as follows : The assessee is a trader in grocery and he is also carrying on business as a public carrier running the service of transport by lorries. In respect of the assessment year 1950-51, he submitted a return of his total income as ₹ 7,113 without including his income from the lorry business. This lorry business is run by the assessee both in his name and in the name of his minor son, P.K.K. Selvaraj. In response to the statutory notice issued to the assessee in the course of the assessment proceedings he furnished d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ry business run in the name of his son. The assessee again reiterated the hands as they represented the amounts brought to India by effecting sales of his lands in Burma. Even at this stage the assessee failed to produce any evidence in support of his version. The Income-tax Officer, therefore, reached the conclusion that the assessee was liable to the imposition of penalty as he came within the mischief of section 28(1)(c) of the Act. That provision enables the authorities to levy penalty if they are satisfied that any assessee has concealed the particulars of his income or deliberately furnished inaccurate particulars of such income. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner practically affirmed the view of the Income-tax Officer. The Tribunal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , the argument is that the assessee has been found guilty of charge no framed against him and which he had no opportunity to answer. We are unable to agree with this contention. Though the order of the Tribunal is not clear and convincing and suffers from the infirmity of bad reasoning it cannot be gainsaid that it was satisfied that the requirements of section 28(1)(c) are fully present so as to justify the levy of penalty. It is urged on behalf of the assessee that penalty proceedings being quasi-criminal in character the charge should be brought home to the assessee by positive evidence adduced by the department. Section 28 of the Act is no doubt a penal provision of law intended to punish tax dodgers for their evasiveness and fraudul ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... roceedings under the Act has our respectful concurrence. To say that the burden of proof is generally on the department does not conclude all questions. What degree or quantum of proof is needed, is it mere likelihood or certainty of something in between the two extremes ? Speaking of the degree of cogency, which the evidence of a criminal charge must reach before the accused can be convicted, Denning J., as he then was (now Lord Denning), observed thus in Miller v. Minister of Pensions : That degree is well settled. It need not reach certainty, but it must carry a high degree of probability. Proof beyond reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond the shadow of a doubt. The law would fail to protect the community if it admitted fan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ers cannot be laid down and we are hesitant to embark on such a venture. Here is a case in which the assessee was confronted with two dubious entries of cash credits in his favour in his business accounts. It is not now disputed that the lorry service in the name of the assessees minor son really belonged to him. In the assessment proceedings which have now become final the cash credits have been treated as income liable to tax. This finding against the assessee will not of course really conclude the question whether the amounts constituted his income or not. It might have been open to the assessee even in the proceedings under section 28 of the Act to show that they were not his income and the department could not have prevented him fro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
