Estimated disclosure and inadvertent omission defeated concealment-based penalty under income-tax law.

Penalty under section 271(1)(c) was found unjustified where the assessee had openly disclosed bank interest as an estimated figure and the omission of a small annuity amount did not, on the record, show concealment or wilful neglect. The estimation disclosed in the return undermined any inference of deliberate suppression, and the annuity omission appeared inadvertent. In the absence of material proving intentional concealment, the benefit of doubt went to the assessee and the penalty was cancelled.

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Issues: Whether penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was leviable for the assessee's omission of part of bank interest and a small annuity amount in the original returns, where the interest was declared as estimated.

Analysis: The returns themselves showed that the bank interest was declared as an estimated figure. On that basis, the omission did not establish concealment or furnish material to infer gross or wilful neglect. The assessee had indicated the estimate openly, and the small annuity omission also appeared inadvertent. In the absence of material showing deliberate suppression, the benefit of doubt was available to the assessee.

Conclusion: The penalty was not justified and was cancelled in favour of the assessee.

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