TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1994 (1) TMI 77
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....s legally justified in annulling the order of assessment for the assessment year 1979-80 ?" The background facts as culled out from the statement of case are as follows : Messrs. Om Agencies, Puri (in short, "the assessee"), which is partnership firm, filed two returns for the assessment year 1979-80, declaring incomes of Rs. 56,070, and Rs. 47,020 for the periods : (i) from April 1, 1978, to May 31, 1978 ; and (ii) from June 1, 1978, to December 31, 1978, respectively. The Income-tax Officer, Special Investigation Ward-A Bhubaneswar, being of the view that the partnership was not a genuine one but a mere benami concern of Messrs. Puri Marine Products, concluded that the income of Rs. 2,59,330 earned by the assessee should form part of the total income of Messrs. Puri Marine Products. Accordingly, the assessment was completed in the case of the assessee on the said Rs. 2,59,330 on a protective basis. Since the variation in the income returned by the assessee for the assessment year in question and the income proposed to be determined by the Assessing Officer exceeded Rs. 1 lakh, a draft assessment order was made under section 144B(1) by the Income-tax Officer on March 16, ....
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....peal before the Tribunal taking the stand that the assessment made by the Income-tax Officer was barred by limitation. The Tribunal held that the noting in the income-tax file was a mere direction to the office to forward the draft order, and actual forwarding of the draft order of assessment was on April 8, 1982, after the assessment was barred by limitation. It was observed that the term "forward" as appearing in clause (iv) of Explanation 1 to section 153 of the Act means "to put in course of transmission" or "to transmit". The Tribunal noticed that though the draft order was purportedly signed on March 16, 1982, the same was not in existence on that date as evident from the fact that the accompanying letter carried the type dated April 8, 1982. It was further noticed that when the forwarding letter itself was typed on April 8, 1982, the same could not have been signed on March 16, 1982, much less to say that the order was forwarded to the assessee before March 31, 1982. There was no enabling provision contained in the Act to condone the delay in making or forwarding the order of assessment. Accordingly, the assessments were nullified. On being moved by the Revenue, the question....
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....eeding one hundred and eighty days) commencing from the date on which the Income-tax Officer forwards the draft order under sub-section (1) of section 144B to the assessee and ending with the date on which the Income-tax Officer receives the directions from the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner under sub-section (4) of that section, or, in a case where no objections to the draft order are received from the assessee, a period of thirty days, or . . . . " The provisions of section 144B deal with reference to the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner in certain cases. Section 144B applies where the Assessing Officer proposes to make any variation, adverse to the assessee, in the income or loss returned, and the amount of such variation exceeds the amount fixed by the Board. By an order F. No. 201/121/75-IT(A-II), dated December 23, 1975, the Board has fixed the amount at Rs. 1,00,000 under section 144B(6). The provisions of section 144B, so far as relevant for adjudication of the dispute at hand, read as follows : "144B. Reference to Inspecting Assistant Commissioner in certain cases.-(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where, in an assessment to be made under sub-se....
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....forwarded on April 8, 1982. In other words, the actual act of forwarding was done on April 8, 1982. A conjoint reading of sections 144B and 153 (Explanation 1) makes it clear that the Assessing Officer is required to "forward" a draft of the proposed order of assessment, which is referred to as the draft order in section 144B. The preparation of the draft order is not really of consequence. Even if a draft order is made and the same is not forwarded to the assessee within the time stipulated, the same loses its value. The word "forward" has been used at many places in sections 144B and 153 (Explanation 1) with which we are presently concerned. The expression "forward" in the context used means to "to send forward, post on farther (letter, parcel, etc.) to person for whom it is intended, (for example, to forward letters to a new address) ; to despatch, send". (See Webster's Universal Dictionary). In Oxford English Dictionary, it is described as "to send, forward, send to an ulterior destination ; in commercial language to despatch, send by some regular mode of conveyance". The term "forward" means "to put in course of transmission" or "to transmit". In order to constitute an act of ....