Suppression of material facts defeats Article 226 relief in tea income assessment proceedings

Relief under Article 226 was declined because the petition was founded on suppression of material facts: the assessee did not disclose that stay orders in the central income-tax proceedings had prevented communication of the relevant assessment orders. For tea-derived agricultural income, the statutory scheme required the agricultural income-tax authority to rely on the central income-tax computation and the corresponding assessment order or certified copy. The court also noted that the assessment for the relevant year had already been completed within time. On that incomplete factual foundation, the rule was discharged and the interim protection vacated.

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Issues: Whether the rule should be discharged and interim protection vacated on the ground that material facts were suppressed and the assessee had itself contributed to the inability to produce the central income-tax assessment orders.

Analysis: The application under Article 226 challenged notices issued for assessment of agricultural income derived from tea. The statutory scheme required the agricultural income-tax authority, for tea income, to proceed on the basis of the computation made under the central income-tax law and to use the corresponding assessment order or a certified copy where necessary. The record showed that stay orders obtained in the central income-tax proceedings prevented communication of those assessment orders, yet this material circumstance was not disclosed when the present rule and interim restraint were obtained. The assessment for the relevant year had also been completed within time. In these circumstances, the court treated the petition as having been pursued on a suppressed and incomplete factual foundation.

Conclusion: The rule was discharged and the interim order was vacated, leaving the parties to work out their rights in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Relief under Article 226 may be refused or withdrawn where it has been obtained by suppression of material facts, especially when the petitioner's own conduct has contributed to the situation complained of.

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