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TMI Blog1962 (2) TMI 12X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onsidered again at the time of 1947-48 assessment. " In the return filed for the assessment year, 1947-48, this amount was not shown by the assessee. The Income-tax Officer also overlooked the note at the end of his order in the back year's assessment, with the result that this item was omitted. The assessee appealed to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner against his assessment for the year, 1947-48. While the appeal was pending, the Income-tax Officer wrote a letter to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner intimating him that he would like to be present, and also requesting him to assess the amount of Rs. 40,000, The Appellate Assistant Commissioner, after issuing notice, assessed the amount and included it in the original assessment. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ellate Assistant Commissioner may, before disposing of any appeal, make such further inquiry as he thinks fit, or cause further inquiry to be made by the Income-tax Officer ...... (3) In disposing of an appeal the Appellate Assistant Commissioner may, in the case of an order of assessment,--- (a) confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment, or (b) set aside the assessment and direct the Income-tax Officer to make a fresh assessment after making such further inquiry as the Income-tax Officer thinks fit or the Appellate Assistant Commissioner may direct, and the Income-tax Officer shall thereupon proceed to make such fresh assessment and determine where necessary the amount of tax payable on the basis of such fresh assessment, .... ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Now this section relating to appeals is enacted for the benefit of the subject and also, to the limited extent therein stated, for the benefit of the Crown. But the subject-matter of the appeal is the assessment and the scope of the appeal must in my opinion be limited by the subject-matter. The appellate authority has no power to travel beyond the subject-matter of the assessment and, for all the reasons advanced by the appellant, is in my opinion not entitled to assess new sources of income. " The view of the Patna High Court receives support from a decision of the Madras High Court in Gajalakshmi Ginning Factory v. Commissioner of Income-tax where, at page 510, the Divisional Bench observed as follows : " Of course, it would not be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g the sum of Rs. 4 lakhs. In dealing with the case, the High Court held that the powers of remand were extremely wide, but it quoted with approval the decision of the Patna High Court in Jagarnath Therani v. Commissioner of Income-tax and also the above observation of the Madras High Court. The learned Chief Justice on that occasion added that there was a distinction between the subject-matter of the appeal and the subject-matter of the assessment, and that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner's powers under section 31 were not confined to the subject-matter of the appeal but extended to the subject-matter of the assessment : Those powers included a power of remand to include in the assessment something which ought to have been so included ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rt must be held not to have expressed its final opinion on the point arising here, in view of what was stated at pages 700 and 710 of the report. This court, however, gave approval to the opinion of the learned Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court that section 31 of the Income-tax Act confers not only appellate powers upon the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in so far as he is moved by an assessee but also a revisional jurisdiction to revise the assessment with a power to enhance the assessment. So much, of course, follows from the language of the section itself. The only question is whether in enhancing the assessment for any year he can travel outside the record, that is to say, the return made by the assessee and the assessment order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he powers of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner to enhance the assessment has been accepted by the legislature as the true exposition of the words of the section. If it were not, one would expect that the legislature would have amended section 31 and specified the other intention in express words. The Income-tax Act was amended several times in the last 37 years, but no amendment of section 31(3) was undertaken to nullify the rulings, to which we have referred. In view of this, we do not think that we should interpret section 31 differently from what has been accepted in India as its true import, particularly as that view is also reasonably possible. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed but, in the circumstances of the case, we make no o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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