1957 (8) TMI 31

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.... was open to the assessee in an appeal against the quantum of assessment made under section 23(4) of the Indian Income- tax Act to prove that the assessee did not mention any books of account for the Ganganagar business and then on proof of that ask the Tribunal to treat the appeal as an appeal against an assessment made under section 23(3)?" 2. The facts of the case are as follows. The assessee, Suganchand Kanhaiyalal Rathi of Jabalpur, is a Hindu undivided family, and admittedly it has business at various places, including Ganganagar in the former Bikaner State. The matter relates to the assessment for the year 1948-49, and a notice under section 22(4) of the Indian Income-tax Act was served upon the assessee. He produced his books of ....

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....tion for an appeal if the matter is decided against the assessee; but section 27 itself does not cover a case in which books of account are held to be in existence, when the assessee says that they are not. We quote section 27: "Where an assessee within one month from the service of a notice of demand issued as hereinafter provided, satisfies the Income-tax Officer that he was prevented by sufficient cause from making the return required by section 22, or that he did not receive the notice issued under sub-section (4) of section 22, or sub-section (2) of section 23, or that he had not a reasonable opportunity to comply, or was prevented by sufficient cause from complying, with the terms of the last mentioned notices, the Income-tax....

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.... books of account did exist. 7. The next point is whether in an appeal against the quantum of assessment this question can be gone into. In our opinion, the quantum of assessment depends upon the income of the assessee. That income may be computed from books or on a best judgment assessment where books have been deliberately withheld. But whether the Income-tax Officer acts upon the first principle or the second or both, the quantum of assessment depends upon the evidence in the books or, if there is a finding that the books have been suppressed, upon best judgment. Therefore, in an appeal against the quantum of assessment the following question is always implicit: "Whether the Income-tax Officer who disregarded the books such as they....