9911796707
TMI Blog1986 (7) TMI 19X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onditions as the Income-tax Officer may think fit to impose. In the instant case, the assessee is a company which used to follow the year ending on 31st December, as its " previous year ". This system continued up to the assessment year 1982-83. For the assessment year 1983-84, the assessee wanted to change its previous year to the financial year. This change was allowed by the Income-tax Officer and the assessment for the assessment year 1983-84 was completed on the basis of the previous year from January 1, 1982, to March 31, 1983. On March 14, 1985, the assessee once again wanted to change its previous year from financial year to the year ending on June 30. This prayer was refused by the Income-tax Officer by an order dated May 31, 198 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Income-tax Officer had power to accord sanction to the change in " previous year " on the condition that the " previous year " would consist of the entire period of 21 months. The Supreme Court pointed out that this condition properly safeguarded the interests of the Revenue. Whether the assessee should be allowed to change its previous year or not is a question of discretion of the Income-tax Officer. It is true that the discretion must be exercised reasonably. The Income-tax Officer has really given two reasons for not allowing the assessee's application. The first reason is that the assessee had already been allowed to change its previous year recently. The second reason that has been given was that if the change is allowed, there ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h any ulterior motive. In my judgment, the question in this case is not of any mala fide intent on the part of the assessee. The Income-tax Officer has taken the view that allowing the change at this stage would result in loss of revenue. I am not persuaded to hold that the Income-tax Officer has taken into consideration something which is irrelevant. This is a very material consideration. Moreover, the assessee has not explained why it wants to change its accounting year with such frequency. The power to allow the prayer of the assessee is a discretionary power vested in the Income-tax Officer. Nothing has been shown to suggest that the power was exercised in this case arbitrarily or on irrelevant considerations. The writ petition, ther ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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