Prior approval for penalty under income tax law was administrative only, with no separate hearing required before the approving authority.

Section 28(6) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 did not require the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner to hear the assessee before granting previous approval for penalty. The reasonable opportunity of being heard was required at the stage of the penalty order under Section 28(3), while the approval under Section 28(6) operated only as administrative control over the Income-tax Officer and not as an additional adjudicatory hearing. The contention that a separate hearing was mandatory before approval therefore failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether Section 28(6) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 required the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner to give the assessee a hearing before granting previous approval for imposition of penalty.

Analysis: Section 28(3) requires that no penalty order be made unless the assessee has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard by the authority making the order. Section 28(6) merely superadds the previous approval of the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner where the penalty is imposed by the Income-tax Officer. The statutory scheme does not contemplate a further hearing before the approving authority, who is not the authority empowered to impose the penalty. The approval is an administrative control over the Income-tax Officer and not an additional adjudicatory hearing.

Conclusion: Section 28(6) did not require the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner to hear the assessee before according approval, and the contention failed.

---