Revised return after detection cannot invoke section 139(5); concealment penalty remains sustainable when statutory burden is not rebutted.

Under the Explanation to section 271(1)(c), the initial burden shifts to the assessee where an explanation for an addition is absent, false, or unsubstantiated, and a later disclosure does not by itself erase concealment if it follows departmental detection or enquiry. Section 139(5) protects only a bona fide omission or wrong statement discovered by the assessee itself, not an attempt to regularise concealed income after investigation has exposed it. On the facts, the revised return was not shown to be voluntary in that sense, so the statutory presumption was not rebutted and penalty for concealment was sustainable.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was rightly cancelled on the basis of a revised return said to have been filed under section 139(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The Explanation to section 271(1)(c) operates as a rule of evidence and shifts the initial burden to the assessee where an explanation for an addition is not offered, is found false, or remains unsubstantiated. Mere disclosure of income in a later return does not by itself negate concealment if the return is filed after detection or after enquiry has begun. Section 139(5) is available only for a bona fide omission or wrong statement discovered by the assessee itself and does not protect an attempt to regularise concealment after departmental enquiry has exposed the issue. On the facts, the assessee had not shown that the additional disclosure was voluntary in the sense required by section 139(5), and the Tribunal had overlooked material circumstances indicating that the revised return was filed after detection.

Conclusion: The cancellation of penalty was not justified, and penalty under section 271(1)(c) was held to be imposable.

Ratio Decidendi: A revised return filed after departmental enquiry or detection of concealment cannot avail the protection of section 139(5), and once the assessee fails to rebut the statutory presumption under the Explanation to section 271(1)(c), penalty for concealment is sustainable.

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