Revision maintainable against penal interest order where advance tax under-estimation interest is independent of total income.

Penal interest levied for under-estimation of advance tax under section 18A(6) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 retains an independent character and is not treated as part of the assessee's total income merely because it is included in the assessment order and collected with tax. As section 30 did not provide an appeal against an order imposing such penal interest, a revision petition was maintainable. The objection based on section 33A(2) was rejected, and an earlier view denying revision in a different context was held inapplicable.

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Issues: Whether a revision petition lay against an order levying penal interest under section 18A(6) of the Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: Penal interest levied for under-estimation of advance tax is not part of the assessee's total income and does not lose its independent character merely because it is included in the assessment order and collected along with tax. Section 30 of the Income-tax Act, 1922, which governs appeals from specified orders, did not provide an appeal against an order imposing penal interest under section 18A(6). The objection to maintainability based on section 33A(2) was rejected, and the earlier view denying revision in a different context was held inapplicable.

Conclusion: The revision petition was competent and did lie.

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