Reassessment limitation under saved Travancore tax law upheld for concealment cases despite the Finance Act saving provision.

Reassessment under the Travancore Income-tax Act remained governed by section 47 despite the coming into force of section 13 of the Finance Act, 1950, because the saving provision preserved the existing law for levy, assessment and collection for the relevant periods. Section 47(1) allowed notice and reassessment within eight years in concealment cases, and section 47(2) supplied the outer limitation framework by reference to such cases. The saved provisions were treated as including the reassessment machinery applicable to concealment matters, and the reasoning used in the saved-penalty context was applied equally to reassessment. The reassessments were therefore within time and the assessee failed.

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Issues: Whether reassessments made under the Travancore Income-tax Act after the coming into force of section 13 of the Finance Act, 1950, were within limitation.

Analysis: Section 47(1) of the Travancore Income-tax Act permitted notice and reassessment within eight years where income had been concealed, and section 47(2) fixed the outer limit with a reference to cases falling under section 41(1)(c). The saving provision in section 13 of the Finance Act, 1950 preserved the pre-existing Travancore income-tax law for levy, assessment, and collection in the relevant periods. The limitation scheme in section 47 therefore remained operative, and the saved provisions included the machinery relevant to reassessment in concealment cases. The reasoning adopted in the saved-penalty context supported application of the same principle to reassessment under section 47.

Conclusion: The reassessments were within time and the answer was against the assessee.

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