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TMI Blog1974 (11) TMI 27X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ber 10, 1973, under section 142(1) of the aforesaid Act in which he was intimated to appear on November 23, 1973. The counsel for the petitioner appeared on November 24, 1973, and got the case adjourned to December 10, 1973, for filing a reply. The petitioner filed a reply dated December 9, 1973, supported by an affidavit stating therein that the alleged notice under section 148 was not served upon him. He further stated that no proceedings were competent against him under section 148 of the 1961 Act, as notice was not served up on him within eight years. The petitioner was required by the Income-tax Officer, respondent No. 2, to appear before him on March 18, 1974, when he was ordered to accept notice under section 148. Counsel for the pet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e the loss or the depreciation allowance, as the case may be, for the assessment year concerned. Section 148 relates to issue of notice where income has escaped assessment, section 149 to time-limit for notice and section 151 to sanction for issue of notice. The aforesaid sections are as follows : " 148. (1) Before making the assessment, reassessment or recomputation under section 147, the Income-tax Officer shall serve on the assessee a notice containing all or any of the requirements which may be included in a notice under sub-section (2) of section 139 ; and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply accordingly, as if the notice were a notice issued under that sub-section. (2) The Income-tax Officer shall, before is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat it is a fit case for the issue of such notice. (2) No notice shall be issued under section 148 after the expiry of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year, unless the Commissioner is satisfied on the reasons recorded by the Income-tax Officer that it is a fit case for the issue of such notice." Before taking action under section 147, the Income-tax Officer is required to follow the procedure under the subsequent sections. Under section 148, he is to serve on the assessee a notice before making the assessment, reassessment or recomputation. Section 149 prescribes the period in which the notice under section 148 can be issued. The question for determination is : whether the words " issue of notice " used in section 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction 4 of the amending Act was enacted for saving the validity of notices issued under section 34(1) of the Act. When that section used a word interpreted by courts in the context of such notices it would be reasonable to assume that the expression was designedly used in the same sense. That apart, the expressions 'issued' and 'served' are used as interchangeable terms both in dictionaries and in other statutes. The dictionary meaning of the word 'issue' is 'the act of sending out, put into circulation, delivery with authority or delivery.' Section 27 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (X of 1897), read thus : 'Where any Central Act or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act authorises or requires any document to be served by p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . In this view I am supported by the observations of Viscount Buckmaster in Barras v. Aberdeen Steam Trawling and Fishing Co. Ltd., wherein it was observed as follows : " It has long been a well-established principle to be applied in the consideration of the Act of Parliament that where a word of doubtful meaning has received a clear judicial interpretation, the subsequent statute which incorporates the same word or the same phrase in a similar context, must be construed so that the word or phrase is interpreted according to the meaning that has previously been assigned to it." Thus, it will be assumed that while enacting the 1961 Act, the legislature knew that the words "serve" and "issue" were being used interchangeably according to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sions of section 34 of the Act of 1922. The division of the provisions contained in section 34 of the 1922 Act into sections 147, 148 and 149 in the Act of 1961 does not in any way indicate that the legislature intended to depart from or materially alter the position as it emerged from the provisions of section 34 of the old Act regarding notice of reassessment. The Supreme Court held in Banarsi Debi v. Income-tax Officer and the Gujarat High Court in Induprasad Devshanker Bhatt v. J. P. Jani, that the words, 'service of notice' or 'issuance of notice' in section 34 have no fixed connotation but are interchangeable. The same meaning should be given to the words 'issue of notice' in section 148 and 'service of notice' in section 149. Unde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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