TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (9) TMI 784
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....tered in accordance with the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 and its members are various professionals from Gujarat engaged in the field of practicing taxation. One of the objectives of the trust is to represent the issues faced by the members before the concerned authorities and seek the resolution thereof. The respondent is the Central Board of Direct Taxes (hereinafter referred to as "the CBDT"), which is responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Rules framed being the Income Tax Rules, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act" and "the Rules). 5. The dispute revolves around non-extension of the period of filing of the Income Tax Return (hereinafter referred to as "the ITR") beyond the period of 30th September, 2014 while exercising the powers conferred under section 119 of the Act by the respondent CBDT while extending such period for the purpose of furnishing the Tax Audit Report (hereinafter referred to as "the TAR") to be filed under section 44AB of the Act to 30th November, 2014. 6. A return of income is required to be furnished on or before the due date prescribed under the provision of law by all those who....
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....or e-filing of the tax audit report was introduced in the month of July, 2013. Such utility underwent changes for nearly 12 times on account of several representations made by the professionals and the assessees. Apart from other issues raised in this representation, it was predominantly emphasized inter alia that with the advent of new utility, the new form of 3CD included very minute and additional details and major shift is made in giving enhanced responsibilities to the Tax professionals. It is also averred that it would become extremely difficult and prejudicial to the professionals as well as the assessees, and therefore, it would be desirable to postpone the use of new utility for the next assessment year by allowing sufficient time for understanding the requirements demanded for. 10. It appears that pursuant to such representations the CBDT, in exercise of powers conferred by section 119 of the Act, extended the due date for obtaining and furnishing the report of audit under section 44AB of the Act for the assessment year 2014-15, in case of those assessees who are not required to furnish the report under section 92E of the Act from 30th day of September, 2014 to 30th da....
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....on and orders thereon; and g. for such further and other reliefs, as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the nature and circumstances of the case." 12. We have heard learned advocate Mr. Parth Contractor in Special Civil Application No.12571 of 2014, who has made his submissions extensively and strenuously by meticulously emphasizing on various provisions of law. He urged forcefully that this non-extension of the period for filing of ITR has caused serious disparity between different assesses. The same has resulted into not only very genuine hardship to the tax payers, but also, created genuine difficulties on the part of the professionals, some of whom also fall in this bracket of assesses. He also has urged that every assessee will be subjected to undergo the inexplicable hardship by putting the cart before the horse. It was also pointed out from various provisions of the law that far greater responsibility, now in the changed circumstances is levied on the professionals which will be difficult to be met with, unless the period is correspondingly extended. It is urged that the representations made subsequent to such notification issued under section 119 dated ....
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....he purpose of assessing the taxable income would be sine qua non. If the returns are filed without the benefit of the TAR, multiplicity of proceedings only are being invited. Learned counsel also distinguished between the audit report and tax audit report to make good his point that based on audit report alone, filing up tax return may be difficult. 14. Per contra, Mr. M. R. Bhatt, learned senior counsel appearing with Mrs. Mauna Bhatt initially had sought for the adjournment on the ground that there was no instruction available from the CBDT. Considering the urgency of the matter, subsequently, the communication received by the learned counsel from the CBDT in the form of comments offered by such authority in writ petition No.5990 of 2014 in case of Mahesh Kumar & Company Vs. Union of India and anr before the Delhi High Court have been pressed into service for the purpose of consideration in the present petition. These comments are treated as the response of the respondent wherein it has contended inter alia that by virtue of the Finance Act, 2007, sections 139C and 139D have been inserted which empower the CBDT to make rule for facilitating annexure-less return by dispensing w....
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....of the assessee accordingly. It is the stand of the department that not in all tax audit cases furnishing of details of the tax auditor is made mandatory. Where before furnishing of the income tax return, the tax audit report has been completed, such information is required to be submitted. It is also the say of the department that process of revision of the TAR was initiated as early as in January, 2014 but the same was rolled out only by July, 2014 due to delay in receiving suggestions from various stake holders and the extra time taken by the law Ministry in vetting and also in getting Hindi translation done. Again, due to lengthy forms, such delay is caused. For the aforesaid reasons, it is the stand of the respondent that the request of the petitioner to extend the due date of income tax return has no basis emphasizing on the impact of extension of such due date of tax collection. It is urged that once such date for payment of self-assessment tax is linked with the due date of furnishing return of income on extension of date of return of income, date of self-assessment tax would get automatically extended and hence, payment of self-assessment tax to be made by the tax payer in....
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.... on account of the exercise of powers conferred upon the CBDT under section 119 of the Act, whereby it extended the due date for obtaining and furnishing the TAR under section 44AB of the Act for the assessment year 2014-15 to 30th November, 2014 without corresponding extension of the due date for furnishing of ITR. 17. As could be noted, section 44AB was introduced from 1st April, 1985 which provides for compulsory audit of accounts of certain class of persons carrying on business or profession. 17.1 Reproduction of this provision would be profitable for the purpose of grasping the contention of making the due date for both the purposes the same. 17.2 Section 44AB is reproduced as under:- "Audit of accounts of certain persons carrying on business or profession. 44AB. Every person.- (a) carrying on business shall, if his total sales, turnover or gross receipts, as the case may be, in business exceed or exceeds one crore rupees in any previous year; or (b) carrying on profession shall, if his gross receipts in profession exceeds twenty-five lakh rupees in any previous year; or (c) carrying on the business shall, if the profits and gains from the business are ....
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....ses relevant to the assessment year means 'the due date' for furnishing the return of income under sub-section (1) of section 139. 18. This provision provides for the categories of the assessee to get their accounts of the previous years to be audited by the chartered accountants before the specified date and obtaining and furnishing by that specified date the tax audit report in the prescribed form duly signed and verified by the Chartered Accountants. The person who is carrying on business and his total sales/turnover exceeds Rs. 1 Crore [limit increased from 1.4.2012] or the person is carrying on profession and his gross receipts exceeds Rs. 25 Lacs or the person carrying on business or profession is covered under the provision of Section 44AD, 44AE, 44AF and claims his income from the said business is lower than the deemed profit and gains computed under the relevant section, this provision applies. 19. Section 139(1) prescribes for furnishing of the return of income under chapter XIV of the Act which is meant for procedure for assessment. Section 139 states that every person being the company or being a person other than the company or a firm, if his total total ....
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....hed by the assessee is defective, he may intimate the defect to the assessee and give him an opportunity to rectify the defect within the period of fifteen days from the date of such intimation or within such further period which, on an application made in this behalf, the Assessing Officer may, in his discretion, allow; and if the defect is not rectified within the said period of fifteen days or, as the case may be, the further period so allowed, then, notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, the return shall be treated as an invalid return and the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the assessee had failed to furnish the return: Provided that where the assessee rectifies the defect after the expiry of the said period of fifteen days or the further period allowed, but before the assessment is made, the Assessing Officer may condone the delay and treat the return as a valid return." 21. Sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 139 when read with sub-section (1) of section 142 provides for furnishing particulars of income exempted from tax etc. in the prescribed form of return. Sub-section (6A) to section 139 of the Act in case of the assessee eng....
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....of Rule 12 of the said Rules if is considered, it states that the return of income required to be furnished in Forms Nos. ITR-1,ITR-2,ITR-3,ITR-4,ITR-5 and ITR-6 shall be accompanied by statement showing the computation of tax on the basis of return or proof of tax, or collected at source or the advance tax or tax on self-assessment etc. It also provides for Report of audit required to be attached with the return of income. 24. Proviso to Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 12 of the IT Rules provides that where the assessee is required to furnish a report of audit under sections 44AB, 92E, or 115JB of the Act, the same shall be furnished electronically. 25. Thus, what emerges is that the requirement of filing of documents, statements, receipts, certificates, reports of audit or any other documents, etc. by virtue of the powers given to the CBDT under section 139C & 139D have been done away with. The return of income is no more to be annexed. The tax audit report also is required to be furnished electronically. Thus what can be deduced from this is that though otherwise the requirement is of furnishing TAR either prior to the filing of ITR or when so done along with ITR have been provided b....
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....of a person who carries on business or profession and who is required by or under any other law to get his accounts audited, be in Form No.3CA; (b) in the case of a person who carries on business or profession, but not being a person referred to in clause (a), be in Form No.3CB. (2) The particulars which are required to be furnished under section 44AB shall be in Form No.3CD." 28. Cases of those persons who carried on business or profession and who are required to get his accounts audited by or under any other law, the same has to be in the Form No.3CA, whereas a person who carries on his business or profession but where his accounts of the business and profession have not been audited earlier, the same has to be in Form No.3CB, whereas, particulars required to be furnished under section 44AB shall be in the Form No. 3CD. 29. While furnishing all the required details under these forms and particularly Form 3CD, enormous details are necessary to be provided with which are cluster of factual details and application of various provisions to them to arrive at correct computation of income. As can be noted from sub- Rule (2) of Rule 12 of the I.T. Rules, Form No. ITR-4 is to....
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.... needs discussion at this stage. 32. A circular no. 387 issued on 6th July 1984 explains the reason of such introduction. This circular says that the books of account and other records when properly maintained by way of Tax Audit Report, they reflect the correct income of the tax payer and claims for deduction are also correctly made thereby. Such audit would also help in checking fraudulent practice. It can also facilitate the administration of tax laws by a proper presentation of the accounts before the tax authorities and thereby considerably saving the time of the Assessing Officers in carrying out routine verification, like checking correctness of totals and verifying whether purchases and sales are properly vouched or not. The time of the Assessing Officer thus save could be utilized for attending to more important investigational aspects of the case. It can be seen from this circular that with a laudable objective the introduction of TAR under section 44AB is made. 33. The Revenue itself was convinced that such TAR would facilitate proper maintaining of the books of account, other records and would also curb practices adopted to defraud the Department. Not only would i....
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.... prepare ITR can hardly be over emphasized. 35.2 Counsel for the petitioners did not pursue this line of argument in this petitions any further and hence, we choose not to further delve into it. 36. We are also concerned with the fact that with the details required in the computation of income and other details and complex working are for all practical purposes, if filled-in, in absence of the availability of TAR, the possibility would be manifold where this non-extension may give rise to multiplicity of proceedings. On making available the TAR subsequent to the filing of ITR, more and more revised returns, if are filed even though it is provided statutorily, this rise in the proceedings on account of non-extension of the due date cannot be left sight of. 37. We notice that by the Notification No.33 of 2014 dated 25th July, 2014 when the earlier Forms No.3CA, 3CB and 3CD have been overhauled, bringing more comprehensive and onerous forms by changing the new utility, after about a month of complete void. According to the Revenue, the process of revision though was undertaken and initiated by January, 2014 but it could come out with the revised forms on account of delay in r....
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....hich would cause prejudice to the collection of the tax, which in the last year was nearly to the tune of Rs. 11,000 crores (rounded off). 42. The submissions of rival sides on this aspect is briefly touched upon on this aspect contending inter alia that for the assessment year 2014-15 the estimated gross tax yearly receipts of Rs. 13,64,524/- is expected by way of self-assessment tax, the amount expected is around 0.8% of the total yearly receipt. However, even if the same is not considered in an absolute term as contended, without much delving into this issue, the said aspect surely cannot be disregarded while considering the plea of extension. 43. We notice that section 140 of the Act provides for self-assessment. This provision provides for self-assessment, where tax is payable on the basis of return to be furnished under section 115WD, section 115WH, section 139, section 142, section 148 and section 153A. Various aspects need to be weighed while paying such tax. The amount of tax already paid under any provision of the Act, or any tax deducted, or collected at source of tax, or deduction claimed under various provisions etc., require to be regarded while paying the same.....
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....of advance tax before furnishing of the return, the provision or the liability of the tax to be attracted in case of such default is already provided for under the statute. We are given to understand that in most of the cases, the advance tax might have been paid by now and only in cases of a very few assesses such advance taxes, would not have been paid. 49. Provision of the self-assessment as discussed above requires the assesses to pay the tax and in the event of the return not having been filed, or there is any default in furnishing of such return, the statute has made the provision for the interest liability. While acknowledging the need to preserve the right of the Revenue provided under the statute, it is possible for the Court to accede to the request of the petitioners herein mainly noticing the hardship of the taxpayers so also of the Tax Auditors and Tax Consultants, which surely cannot be ignored. 50. We are also actuated by the fact that the entire situation is arising not on account of any contribution on the part of either the professionals or the assesses leading to such a situation. In the present case, with the advancement of the technology, it is always com....
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.... Act, which in the present case, the authority failed to exercise and consequently, the petitioner was compelled to approach this Court by way of the present petition. We could not resist ourselves from taking note of details provided in the official website of Income-tax Department which reveals the extension of computerization in the department so far and their vision for the same in this field. With a view to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Direct Taxes administration and to create a database on its various aspects, a Comprehensive Computerization programme was approved by the Government in October 1993. In accordance with the programme, computerization was taken up on a three-tier system. In the apex level, a National Computer Centre [NCC] having large computers to maintain data base and to execute processing work of a global nature was envisaged. At the second level, 36 Regional Computer Centres [RCCs] were to be established across the country equipped with large computers to maintain regional databases and to cater to regional processing needs. All the RCCs were to be connected to the National Computerization Centre through high speed data communication lines. At ....
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....office, and that too, after having been pointed out the actual error, a serious re-look is expected." 51.3 One of the main objectives of the computerization programme of IT Department as reflected in the judgment of Vaghjibhai S. Bishnoi v. Income Tax Officer and another (supra) is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the tax administration and to ensure better enforcement of tax laws by ushering tax payer friendly regime. If the very computerization has caused genuine hardship to one and all concerned, CBDT ought to have paid heed to the repeated requests of all concerned in exercise of its statutory powers. 52. It is necessary to specify at this juncture that the in past three decades from the time the requirement of TAR is made compulsory under section 44AB of the Act, the due date for filing the TAR and ITR has never been in conflict. Very peculiar situation has arisen giving rise to the present petitions and on account of the Revenue having realised the difficulty of all the concerned in complying with the requirement of obtaining or furnishing the TAR on or before due date, has rightly taken recourse of provision of section 119 of the Act to extend the date of....
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....ld and observed thus: "9. What is the status of these circulars? Section 119(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 provides that, "The Central Board of Direct Taxes may, from time to time, issue such orders, instructions and directions to other Income-tax authorities as it may deem fit for the proper administration of this Act and such authorities and all other persons employed in the execution of this Act shall observe and follow such orders, instructions and directions of the Board. Provided that no such orders, instructions or directions shall be issued (a) so as to require any Income-tax authority to make a particular assessment or to dispose of a particular case in a particular manner: or (b) so as to interfere with the discretion of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in the exercise of his appellate functions." Under sub-section (2) of Section 119 without prejudice to the generality of the Board's power set out in sub-section (1) a specific power is given to the Board for the purpose of proper and efficient management of the work of assessment and collection of revenue to issue from time to time general or special orders in respect of any class of incomes or class of cases ....
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....the aid of the TAR and thereby the angle of gaining the interest under the provision of law for such late filing of the returns would not have been missed by the Revenue. The Revenue can surely safeguard the interest of both the collection of tax, as also of possible loss of interest on the tax collected, the Revenue cannot be permitted to take advantage of its own error or delay, by putting forth magnified figures of loss and thereby also possibly in the process gaining interest for late filing of return in complete disregard to requirement of efficient management. 57. In the backdrop of factual matrix discussed hereinabove, the expectations of extension of the date in consonance with the date of filing the TAR is legitimate and justifiable. The Revenue, on one hand, highlighted the object and importance of the TAR as mentioned while discussing the Circular of the year 1984, while not sustaining the request of the stake holders, it cannot be permitted to shield behind the reason of late collection of tax, ignoring all other considerations of vital importance in the process. 58. Consequences that would follow on account of the delay in filing the return of income also are wei....
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....ot be denied. Writs of mandamus have been granted, to admit lecturers, clerks, sextons, and scavengers and c., to restore an alderman to precedency, an attorney to practice in an inferior court, and c." (H.W.R. Wade and C.F. Forsyth: Administrative Law, 10th Edition, page 522-23). 32. De Smith in Judicial Review, Sixth Edition has also acknowledged the contribution of Lord Mansfield which led to the development of law on Writ of Mandamus. The speech of Lord Mansfield in R v. Blooer, (1760) 2 Burr, runs as under : "a prerogative writ flowing from the King himself, sitting in his court, superintending the police and preserving the peace of this country". (See De Smith's Judicial Review 6th Edition, Sweet and Maxwell page 795 para 15- 036. 33. Almost a century ago, Darling J quoted the observations in Rex v. The Justices of Denbighshire, (1803) 4 East, 142, in The King v. The Revising Barrister etc. {(1912) 3 King's Bench 518} which explains the wide sweep of Mandamus. The relevant observations are : "...Instead of being astute to discover reasons for not applying this great constitutional remedy for error and misgovernment, we think it our duty to be vigilant to a....
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....subject to the archaic constraints on which prerogative writs were issued in England. Most of the cases in which the English courts had earlier enunciated their limited power to pass on the legality of the exercise of the prerogative were decided at a time when the Courts took a generally rather circumscribed view of their ability to review Ministerial statutory discretion. The decision of the House of Lords in Padfield's case (1968 AC 997) marks the emergence of the interventionist judicial attitude that has characterized many recent judgments." 38. In the Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in Life Insurance Corporation of India v. Escorts Limited and others, [(1986) 1 SCC 264] : (AIR 1986 SC 1370), this Court expressed the same opinion that in Constitution and Administrative Law, law in India forged ahead of the law in England (para 101, page 344). 39. This Court has also taken a very broad view of the writ of Mandamus in several decisions. In the case of The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Gian Prakash, New Delhi and another v. K.S. Jagannathan and another - (AIR 1987 SC 537), a three-Judge Bench of this Court referred to Halsbury's Laws of England....
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....ailable, much less effective to the stakeholders against the non-use of beneficial powers by the Board for the larger cause of justice, exercise of writ jurisdiction to meet the requirements of circumstances has become inevitable. 61. Here, we notice that subsequent to the representation made on 21st August, 2014, the CBDT could have responded to such representation by either acceding or refusing to the request of extending the period of filing of ITR and making it extendable upto 30th November, 2014. Ordinarily, in such circumstances, the Court would direct the authority to consider the representation and pass a specific order. In wake of the constrains of time, as the due date of the filing of the return is expiring on 30th September, 2014 and when the respondent Board has chose not to respond to the same, but, later on by offering the comments before this Court in writing in no uncertain terms, it has termed such a request impermissible and has chosen to refuse the same on the ground that all the grievance made by the petitioners are not sustainable. Therefore, considering the larger cause of public good and keeping in mind the requirement of promotion of justice, we chose to....
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....ered judgment delivered by my learned Sister and am in respectful agreement with the above conclusion arrived at in the judgment. I would, however, like to supplement the above conclusion. 67. The facts as well as rival contentions have already been recorded, hence, with a view to avoid prolix, it is not necessary to reiterate the same. 68. Vide notification dated 1st May, 2013, the Revenue Department has made e-filing of tax audit report mandatory from assessment year 2013-14. The utility for software for efiling of tax audit report was introduced for the first time in the month of July, 2013. Subsequently, by a notification No.33/2014 dated 25th July, 2014, the Revenue Department in exercise of powers under section 295 read with section 44AB of the Act, amended the format of tax audit report to be submitted in Forms No.3CA, 3CB and 3CD. After the introduction of the above notification, the old utility for e-filing of tax audit report came to be withdrawn. However, the new utility was not introduced upto 21st August, 2014. Thus, for the period starting from the issue of notification on 25th July, 2014 till the date of initiation of the new utility software on 21st August, 20....
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....ncome and computation of correct taxable income is the primary responsibility of the assessee and as per section 140 of the Act, it is the tax payer who has to verify the correctness of the facts and figures reported in the return of income. The tax auditor is, in no way, connected with the filing of the return of income. He is only supposed to verify in the tax audit report the amount of allowance/deduction for which the assessee is eligible. The tax auditor is an independent professional and is not an employee of the assessee who will compute the taxable income of the assessee. The main grievance against extending the due date for filing return of income is that the due date for selfassessment tax gets automatic extension and hence, the payment of self-assessment tax which is to be made by month of September, 2014, is most likely to be deferred by the taxpayer to November, 2014 in case of extension of the due date of filing the return of income. 71. For the purpose of adjudicating the issue raised in the present petition, it may be necessary to refer to the relevant statutory provisions. 72. Section 44AB of the Act makes provision for audit of accounts of certain persons ca....
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....of the assessee of the previous year relevant to an assessment year, means the due date for furnishing the return of income under sub-section (1) of section 139. 73. The scope and effect of insertion of section 44AB have been elaborated in the Departmental Circular No.387 dated 6th July, 1984, wherein in paragraph 17.1 thereof, it has been stated that the accounts maintained by companies are required to be audited under the Companies Act, 1956. Accounts maintained by co-operative societies are also required to be audited under the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912. There is, however, no obligation on other categories of taxpayers to get their accounts audited. In paragraph 17.2 thereof, it has been stated that a proper audit for tax purposes would ensure that the books of account and other records are properly maintained, that they faithfully reflect the income of the taxpayer and claims for deduction are correctly made by him. Such audit would also help in checking fraudulent practices. It can also facilitate the administration of tax laws by a proper presentation of the accounts before the tax authorities and considerably saving the time of assessing officers in carrying out ro....
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.... Department, the purpose of introducing section 44AB of the Act, apart from facilitating the administration of tax laws by proper presentation of the accounts before the tax authorities, is to ensure that true income is reflected in the return through the books of account duly audited. As a necessary corollary, therefore, unless and until the books of account are duly audited, in other words, unless the tax audit is carried out under section 44AB of the Act, the assessee would not be in a position to ensure that the true income is reflected in the return. It is for this reason, that the legislature has, and rightly so, provided that the specified date under section 44AB is the due date for filing the return of income under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act. However, the Board while considering the request of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to extend the due date for filing the tax audit report, having regard to the difficulties that have arisen in the current year in view of the change in Forms No.3CA, 3CB and 3CD, has extended the time limit for filing the tax audit report under section 44AB till 30th November, 2014, but has failed to relax the provi....
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....sessment tax which is otherwise payable in September, 2014, can be taken care of by providing that the due date shall stand extended for all purposes, except for the purposes of Explanation 1 to section 234A of the Act. 77. An important aspect of the matter, which has a bearing on the very validity of the notification dated 20th August, 2014, is required to be examined. A perusal of the notification dated 20th August, 2014 whereby the due date for obtaining and furnishing the report of audit under section 44AB of the Act for assessment year 2014-15 has been extended to 30th November, 2014, reveals that the same has been issued in exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act. It may, therefore, be germane to refer to the provisions of section 119 of the Act which read thus: 119. Instructions to subordinate authorities.-(1) The Board may, from time to time, issue such orders, instructions and directions to other Income Tax authorities as it may deem fit for the proper administration of this Act, and such authorities and all other persons employed in the execution of this Act shall observe and follow such orders, instructions and directions of the Board: Provided that no s....
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....y:- (i) the default in complying with such requirement was due to circumstances beyond the control of the assessee; and (ii) the assessee has complied with such requirement before the completion of assessment in relation to the previous year in which such deduction is claimed: Provided that the Central Government shall cause every order issued under this clause to be laid before each House of Parliament. 78. Under sub-section (2) of section 119 of the Act, the legislature had enumerated the sections, the provisions whereof the Board is empowered to relax, however, section 44AB of the Act does not find place therein. It is, therefore, clear that section 119 of the Act does not empower the Board to relax the provisions of section 44AB of the Act. Thus, prima facie, the exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act for extending the due date for obtaining and furnishing of report of audit under section 44AB of the Act is without any authority of law. In Kerala Financial Corporation v. Commissioner of Income Tax, (1994) 4 SCC 375, the Supreme Court has held that what section 119 has empowered is to issue orders, instructions or directions for the "proper administration" o....
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....s clear. Namely that, the due date for filing return of income and the specified date for furnishing tax audit report under section 44AB of the Act should be the same. The Board in exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act, therefore, cannot issue any circular or notification which is contrary to the legislative intent and the scheme of the enactment which envisages that the "specified date" and "due date" should be the same. The inevitable conclusion, therefore, is that the Board could not have extended the due date of filing tax audit report alone without extending the due date for filing return of income as that would amount to overriding the provisions of the Act. Moreover, the very fact that section 119 of the Act does not empower the Board to relax the provisions of section 44AB of the Act, clearly reflects the legislative intent not to permit relaxation of the "specified date" without relaxing the "due date". Had the legislature intended to permit relaxation of the specified date for furnishing tax audit report alone, it would have included section 44AB in section 119 of the Act. 80. Moreover, it appears that the Board was also conscious of the fact that it does not....
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....Act, in which case, the interests of the revenue would also be protected. 82. This court is conscious of the fact that the period of filing return of income is prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act and in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution, it would not be permissible for this court to extend such period as the same would amount to legislation on the part of the court. However, as noticed earlier, the Board is duly empowered under sub-section (2) of section 119 of the Act, to relax the provisions of section 139 of the Act, whereas there is no power to relax the provisions of section 44AB of the Act. The Board, however, by the notification dated 20th August, 2014, has relaxed provisions of section 44AB of the Act for assessment year 2014-15 without extending the due date for filing the return of income. Thus, in the absence of any statutory power vested in the Board to relax the provisions of section 44AB of the Act, the notification dated 20th August, 2014 has no legs to stand on its own. The only remedy available for the Board to sustain the validity of the notification is to extend the due date for filing return of income under sectio....