Section 167B inapplicable to registered societies; rectification imposing maximum marginal rate tax was quashed.

Section 167B of the Income-tax Act did not apply to a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, because that class of assessee is expressly excluded from its ambit. As the assessee's society registration was on record, the statutory basis for charging tax at the maximum marginal rate was absent. The rectification under section 154, which had imposed tax at that rate, therefore lacked legal foundation and was quashed. The stated deletion of the tax liability in appellate proceedings further indicated that no surviving demand remained.

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Issues: Whether section 167B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 applied to a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and whether the rectification order levying tax at the maximum marginal rate under section 154 could stand.

Analysis: Section 167B specifically excludes a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 from its ambit. The assessee's registration as a society under that Act was established on record, and the statutory condition for charging tax at the maximum marginal rate was therefore absent. In consequence, the rectification made under section 154, which had imposed tax at the maximum marginal rate, lacked legal basis. The claim that the assessee's tax liability had already been deleted in appellate proceedings further supported the absence of any surviving demand.

Conclusion: Section 167B was held inapplicable to the assessee, and the rectification order under section 154 was quashed.

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