Wider right of appeal under the Wealth-tax Act where the assessee objects to net wealth determined.

The Wealth-tax Act was read as conferring a wider appellate right where the assessee objects to the amount of net wealth determined, because section 23A uses that wording instead of requiring the assessee to be "aggrieved". Section 23(1) permits an appeal from an order of the Wealth-tax Officer, and the Act contains no express exclusion comparable to the Income-tax Act provision barring appeals from certain summary assessments. On that construction, an appeal against an assessment under section 16(1) was maintainable, including where no exemption had been granted, and the contrary view of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner was incorrect.

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Issues: Whether an appeal lay to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner against an assessment made under section 16(1) of the Wealth-tax Act where the assessee objected to the amount of net wealth determined.

Analysis: Section 23(1) of the Wealth-tax Act permits an appeal from an order of the Wealth-tax Officer, and section 23A uses the expression "objecting to the amount of net wealth determined" rather than requiring the assessee to be "aggrieved". The Act also contains no express exclusion comparable to section 246 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which specifically bars an appeal against an order under section 143(1). The terminology and scheme of the Wealth-tax Act therefore support a wider right of appeal where the assessee objects to the net wealth determined, including where no exemption has been granted.

Conclusion: An appeal was maintainable against the Wealth-tax Officer's order under section 16(1) of the Wealth-tax Act, and the contrary view taken by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner was wrong. The matter was remanded for disposal according to law.

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