9911796707
TMI Blog1973 (2) TMI 44X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ged for all the years as the petitioner had failed to pay proper amount of advance tax as required under sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 18A. The petitioner applied to the Income-tax Officer for waiver of interest. The applications were made under section 35 read with rule 48 of the Indian Income-tax Rules, 1922. (The application for the year 1962-63 was made under rule 40 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, which corresponds to rule 48 of the Indian Income-tax Rules, 1922). These applications were rejected. The petitioner then moved the Commissioner of Income-tax, Delhi (Central), New Delhi, the respondent No. 1, under section 33A(2) of the Act by means of five separate applications. All the five applications were rejected by the Commi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ax was paid up to the date of the said regular assessment shall be payable by the assessee upon the amount by which the tax so paid falls short of the said eighty per cent. Sub-section (6) of section 18A, as originally enacted, left no discretion with the Income-tax Officer so that if the estimate fell below the prescribed limit, the Income-tax Officer was bound to charge interest. However, by Act No. 25 of 1953, which was enacted with retrospective effect from April 1, 1952, the following proviso was added as the fifth proviso to section 18(6) : "Provided further that in such cases and under such circumstances as may be prescribed, the Income-tax Officer may reduce or waive the interest payable by the assessee." In order to give effec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... time when he passed the regular assessment order. In our opinion, the view taken by the Commissioner is patently erroneous. It is true that ordinarily an Income-tax Officer is supposed to consider the question of waiver or reduction of interest at the time he makes the regular assessment. But, in such a case, he would be required to give a notice to the assessee so as to afford him an opporunity of showing that the circumstances enumerated in rules 48/40 exist and the waiver or reduction of interest is called for. In the instant case no such notice was given to the assessee and the question of waiver or reduction of interest was not considered by the Income-tax Officer at all. Indeed, when the petitioner moved the Income-tax Officer under ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , accordingly, hold that the revision applications of the petitioner were not barred by time. The second ground upon which the applications of the petitioner relating to the assessment years 1956-57 and 1958-59, have been rejected is based upon the proviso to section 33A(2), clause (c), which provides that the Commissioner shall not revise any order if the same "has been made the subject of an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal". Now, in these two years the petitioner had raised the question of levy of penal interest before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax and, thereafter, before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal in his appeals against the regular assessments. But an order under section 18A(6) is not an appealable order. S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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