2005 (8) TMI 55

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ned order is according to the petitioner not proper or one which virtually seeks to assume jurisdiction by the Commission when it could not have done so under the statutory provisions, particularly, under section 245C(1) of the Act and, therefore, the need for the petitioner to test the correctness or otherwise of such an order as an order involving interpretation of the provisions of section 245C(1) of the Act. The brief facts leading to the petition are that respondent No. 1 scheduled bank had filed its return for the assessment years 1994-95 to 1999-2000. The assessment orders had been passed by the Assessing Officer up to the assessment year 1997-98 and for the other subsequent years they were still pending. In respect of the assessm....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

.... counsel are armed with a good number of authorities in support of their submissions. I have also been taken through the legislative history of the provisions of Chapter XIX-A and it is pointed out that the proviso to section 245C as it stood earlier which enabled the Commissioner to raise an objection even at the threshold to entertain an application of this nature had been later shifted to sub-section (1A) of section 245D and from the year 1991 it had been totally omitted and in the light of such legislative history, it is not open to the Commissioner to raise any such preliminary objection about the maintainability of the application itself; that the application can be proceeded with by the Settlement Commission for determination of t....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ion that may require an interpretation of the provisions of section 245C at this stage when the matter itself is still at large before the Settlement Commission and the very object of Chapter XIX-A is to settle cases, to reduce the disputes, resolving controversies and not to prolong the length of litigation. Even a cursory glance at the legislative history, particularly, the provisions relating to section 245C as it stood earlier, section 245D(1A) and the present statutory provision after the year 1991, indicates that the effort is to reduce the length of the pendency of the matter before the Settlement Commission so that the settlement is expedited and not prolonged. It is for this purpose, I am not examining any of the questions which we....