TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1979 (6) TMI 101
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....itiated penalty proceeding for the delay in filing the returns. Rejecting the explanation offered by the assessee for the delay in filing the returns as not relevant and satisfactory, the WTO held that there was no reasonable cause for the delay in filing the returns. He levied penalties under s. 18(1)(a) of the WT Act. The particulars of the wealth returned, wealth assessed, the wealth-tax demanded and the penalties levied are as follows: Asst. year Net wealth returned Net wealth assessed Wealth-tax demanded Penalty Levied . Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. 1967-68 99,178 1,07,200 36 2,786 1968-69 1,11,576 1,19,066 96 6,188 1969-70 1,40,378 1,47,878 240 1,484 1970-71 1,15,423 1,21,423 107 3,210 1971-72 1,17,959 1,13,166 38....
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....aising necessary finance, that he could get the necessary finance, only in the end of 1973, that further his father Kader Muthu was ailing and he passed away in Feb., 1974, that apart form this, his only son was ailing for a long period who also passed away having been afflicted by blood cancer, that all these matters caused him mental agony with the result he was also bed-ridden, that in short the calamities in the family and the promotion of the company were the principal reasons which prevented him from applying his mind for filing the WT returns, that when his income-tax returns for 1974-75 was finalised by his auditors, he was advised that he would be liable to WT from the asst. yrs. 1967-68 to 1973-74, that immediately on such advice ....
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....all compared to the huge penalties levied as set out above. The smallness of the taxes themselves would indicate that there can be no motive to withhold the small amounts of taxes by delaying the returns. The ratio of the rulings of the Madras High Court in V.L. Dutt vs. CIT, and in Loonkaran and Sons vs. CIT(2), in both of which the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Hindustan Steel Ltd. vs. State of Orissa(3), was followed, would squarely apply to the facts of this case. On a careful consideration of the entirety of the facts and circumstances of the case. We are satisfied that the delay in filing the returns of wealth for the years under appeal by the assessee was not without reasonable cause. We therefore, uphold the o....