Penalty for concealment fails when revised returns were regularised and accepted without addition, absent wilful non-disclosure.

Penalty under section 271(1)(c) is not sustainable where revised returns, though filed after the section 139(5) time limit, were submitted before proceedings began, regularised through notice under section 148, and accepted in assessment without further addition. The mere belated filing did not by itself establish concealment. In the absence of a specific finding of wilful and deliberate non-disclosure of income, the penalty could not be imposed, and deletion of the penalty by the first appellate authority was upheld.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was sustainable where the assessee had filed revised returns after the period prescribed under section 139(5), but before initiation of proceedings and the returns were regularised and accepted in assessment without further addition.

Analysis: The revised returns, though filed beyond the time limit in section 139(5), were filed before any proceedings were initiated against the assessee. Those returns were regularised by notice under section 148 and were accepted without any further addition. In these circumstances, the mere fact that the revised returns were belated did not alter the position. For penalty under section 271(1)(c), there had to be a specific finding of wilful and deliberate non-disclosure of income, which was absent. The earlier view taken in the assessee's own case and in a similar case was followed.

Conclusion: The penalty was not exigible and its deletion by the first appellate authority was upheld.

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