2006 (5) TMI 71

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....ary, 1994 as against the actual date of filing of return in June, 1993. The assessee filed its return of income on June 21, 1993, declaring a total income of Rs. 35,71,006. As the return was filed out of time it was treated as an invalid return and notice under section 148 was issued to the assessee on January 17, 1994. Notice was served on the assessee on January 17, 1994. The assessee sent a letter dated February 5, 1994, to the assessing authority requesting that the return already filed by the assessee on June 21, 1993, be treated as having been filed in response to a notice under section 148. The said letter was received in the office of the Assessing Officer on February 7, 1994. The Assessing Officer treated the date of filing of r....

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....e charged only up to the date of filing of the return and not up to February, 1994, the date on which the assessee's request for treating the return filed on June 22, 1993, as the return filed in response to a notice under section 148. We heard senior counsel Sri P. K. R. Menon for the Revenue as well as Sri Dale P. Kurian, counsel appearing for the assessee. We find it difficult to accept the reasoning of the Tribunal. We are of the view that the Tribunal has not properly appreciated the provisions of section 234A which' was inserted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, with effect from April 1, 1989. The said provision is extracted hereunder for easy reference: "234A.(1) Where the return of income for any assessment year un....

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....see did not file the return by that date, but had filed the return only on June 22, 1993, which is an invalid return. On scrutiny of the records the Assessing Officer found that the return submitted by the assessee was time-barred and invalid. Consequently the Assessing Officer issued notice under section 148 on January 17, 1994, and the notice was served on the assessee on January 20, 1994. In response to that notice the assessee had sent a letter dated February 5, 1994, wherein the assessee requested that the return already filed on June 22, 1993 be treated as having been filed under section 148. The said letter was received in the office of the assessing authority on February 7, 1994. We are of the view that by merely filing a letter the....