TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1993 (2) TMI 38
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....n not charging interest under section 217(1A) in the original assessment ? 2. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was correct in holding that interest under section 217(1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, could not be charged by taking recourse to section 154 ?" The relevant assessment year is 1972-73. The assessee, a partnership firm, carried on the business of manufacture and sale of earth digging equipment and it also derived income from Government contracts. During the financial year 1971-72, relevant to the assessment year 1972-73, the assessee was required to pay advance tax of Rs. 3,830 under section 210 of the Act, which was computed on the basis of income of Rs. 55,640 for the assessment year....
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....the record. The assessee filed a reply contending that there was no mistake apparent from the record and that, therefore, the impugned notice under section 154 could not have been issued. The Income-tax Officer rejected the contention of the assessee. He, therefore, worked out the interest chargeable under section 217(1A) at Rs. 8,295 and charged the same by his order passed under section 154. The assessee then filed an appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner who accepted the appeal and reversed the order of the Income-tax Officer. In his opinion, non-charging of interest under section 217(1A) was not a mistake apparent from the record rectifiable under section 154. He was of the view that rule 40 of the Income-tax Rules, 1....
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....consideration is as to what is the correct interpretation of the expression "at any time before the date", occurring in sub-section (3A) of section 212 in the relevant assessment year. The said expression has been substituted by the expression " on or before the date " by the Finance Act, 1979 (Act No. 21 of 1979), with effect from April 1, 1979. Does the pre-amended expression enjoin upon the assessee to file the estimate before March 15, 1972, when the last instalment of advance tax became due or will there be sufficient compliance with sub-section (3A) of section 212 if the estimate is filed on the date when the last instalment falls due? It is undisputed that the last instalment became due on March 15, 1972, and the estimate of advance ....
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....diction to invoke section 154. The application of the provisions of section 154 is permissible only when there is no scope for debate. In Premchand Nathmal Kothari v. Kisanlal Bachharaj Vyas, AIR 1976 Bom 82, the Bombay High Court, interpreting the word "before" contextually and purposively, held that the expression "before the first day of April, 1970" occurring in section 3 of the Maharashtra (Vidarbha Region) Agricultural Debtors' Relief Act, 1969 (briefly, "the Act of 1969"), meant that the said expression could not be interpreted to mean "on or before March 31, 1970". To appreciate that authority, we may briefly state the facts thereof. An application was filed under section 3 of the Act of 1969 by the creditor against his debtors on A....
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.... High Court in Premchand Nathmal's case, AIR 1976 Bom 82, is equally plausible and it may be argued with force and seriousness that the word 'before" appearing in sub-section (3A) of section 212 of the Act can be interpreted to mean that the assessee was entitled to file the estimate up to March 15, 1972. Such a view being equally plausible, forcible and arguable as opposed to the view taken by the Income-tax Officer that the estimate was required to be filed by the assessee on or before March 14, 1972, we are of the considered view that the Income-tax Officer was not right in taking recourse to the provisions of section 154. We are, therefore, constrained to hold that question No. 2 has to be answered in the affirmative that, on the fac....