2013 (7) TMI 661

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....or to the amendment shall abate on 1.4.2008, provided under Section 245-D (4A) and 245-HA of the amending Act) ultra vires the Constitution of India and to direct the Income Tax Settlement Commission, New Delhi to decide the application on merits on or before 31.3.2008. A further prayer is made to direct the respondents to exclude all materials on the file of the Settlement Commission arising from the application for settlement filed by the petitioner from any proceedings initiated/continued against the petitioner by any Income Tax Authority. 3. By an interim order passed in this writ petition the provision for abatement of proceeding relating to the petitioners pending before the Settlement Commissioner was stayed with a clarification tha....

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....do some violence to it, so as to achieve the obvious intention of the legislature and produce a rational construction. An interpretation leading to an unjust, inequitable, harsh and absurd result must be rejected. It further held that since the purported objective of the amendments introduced in Chapter XIX-A by the 2007 Act is to streamline the proceedings before the Settlement Commission and to ensure expeditious disposal of pending cases, the amendments cannot be construed so as to punish an applicant for the inability or failure of the Settlement Commission to dispose of its application within the period specified in section 245D (4A), where such delay in disposal is not attributable to the applicant. The time limit for disposal of an a....

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.... to any reasons attributable on the part of the applicant shall abate on the specified date under section 245HA (1) (iv). In this manner both section 245D (4A) (i) and section 245HA (1) (iv) will have applicability, meaning and effect. We may also clarify that the expression "reasons attributable" should be reasonably construed. While so dealing, the Settlement Commission shall also to consider whether in the petition before this court the petitioner had averred that the proceedings were delayed not on account of any reason attributable to him, and whether the State had denied the same, if there be no denial then to reconsider that circumstances in favour of the petitioner. From the above discussion having arrived at a conclusion that fixi....