Valuation Officer reference under income tax law requires express statutory authority; general enquiry powers are not enough.

The Assessing Officer cannot refer the cost of construction of a house property to a Valuation Officer unless the Income-tax Act expressly permits that course. Sections 131(1), 133(6) and 142(2) confer enquiry powers on the Assessing Officer, but they do not create an implied authority to obtain a valuation report from a Valuation Officer. Section 55A is a limited, express provision and is materially different from a commission under the Code of Civil Procedure. The statutory scheme requires express legislative authority before a Valuation Officer may be consulted, so the reference made outside that framework was impermissible and the resulting additions could not stand.

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Issues: Whether the Assessing Officer could refer the cost of construction of a house property to a Valuation Officer outside section 55A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, by resorting to the general powers under sections 131(1), 133(6) and 142(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, or by treating the reference as one under the commission powers.

Analysis: Section 55A expressly authorises a reference to a Valuation Officer only in specified circumstances and for the limited purpose of ascertaining the fair market value of a capital asset in connection with capital gains. The general powers of enquiry under sections 131(1), 133(6) and 142(2) make the Assessing Officer the fact-finding authority, but they do not include an independent power to send the matter to a Valuation Officer for an inquiry by that officer. A reference under section 55A is materially different from a commission issued under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and the consequences of the two procedures are not the same. The scheme of the Income-tax Act shows that whenever the legislature intended a Valuation Officer to be consulted, it made express provision for that course. The Valuation Officer, being appointed under the Wealth-tax Act, 1957, can act only within the statutory limits of that enactment or where the Income-tax Act specifically permits such reference.

Conclusion: The Assessing Officer had no jurisdiction to refer the valuation of the house construction to the Valuation Officer on the facts of the case, and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Final Conclusion: The reference to the Valuation Officer was held impermissible outside the express statutory framework, so the assessment additions based on that reference could not stand.

Ratio Decidendi: A Valuation Officer can be called upon to act under the Income-tax Act only when the statute expressly authorises such reference or incorporates the relevant procedure by necessary implication; the general powers of enquiry vested in the Assessing Officer do not include an implied power to obtain a valuation report from the Valuation Officer.

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