TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1978 (2) TMI 31
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....ioner had filed returns under the W.T. Act. In due course, the WTO had passed assessment orders on these returns. Being of the opinion that the petitioner's house at 22, Katghar Road, Allahabad, was under-assessed, the WTO issued notices for these four assessment years as well as for the assessment year 1965-66 under s. 17 of the W.T. Act on 24th September, 1973. The petitioner contested these notices, but overruling the objections, the WTO, on 22nd January, 1975, passed five separate assessment orders in respect of each of the five years. In the original assessment proceedings the value of the house at 22, Katghar Road, was taken to be Rs. 16,640. In the reassessment proceedings, the value was taken at Rs. 4,66,020. The value of the min....
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....uare yard. To this the cost of the building and the godown as given in the departmental valuer's report will have to be added. On the question of mining lease rights, the Tribunal held that the assessee's interest in the mining lease was an " asset " within the meaning of s. 2(e) of the W.T. Act and was liable to wealth-tax. The WTO had valued the interest in mining lease at Rs. 2,52,000 on the basis of multiplying the average annual income by 12. The Tribunal considered the facts and directed the officer to adopt the multiplier of 8 for 1965-66 and 1966-67, multiplier of 10 for 1967-68 and 1968-69 and the multiplier of 11 for 1969-70. Ultimately, the Tribunal observed : " We have quashed the assessment orders made by the Wealth-tax Offi....
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....ive effect to these findings the present notices have been issued. Section 17(2) is in pari materia with the second proviso to s. 34(3) of of the Indian I.T. Act, 1922, and s. 150 of the I.T. Act 1961. In each of these three provisions the material phrase used is " in consequence of or to give effect to any finding or direction " contained in an order passed by way of appeal, reference or revision. The Supreme Court in ITO v. Murlidhar Bhagwan Das [1964] 52 ITR 335 considered the second proviso to s. 34(3). It held that the expressions " finding " and " direction " meant a finding necessary for giving relief in respect of the assessment for the year in question and a direction which the appellate or revisional authority, as the case m....
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....x in respect of the business, was a finding which was necessary for the disposal of the appeal. The finding that the business had been gifted to S and B in 1942 was only an incidental finding and not a finding necessary for the disposal of the appeal. It was also held that the directions given by the appellate authority were also not necessary for the disposal of the appeal. In the present case the Tribunal held that proceedings under s. 17 were initiated on the ground that the Katghar house had been under-assessed. This was on a change of opinion. They were held to be without jurisdiction and were quashed. The additional findings as to the quantum of the value of the Katghar house were clearly not necessary for the disposal of the appea....
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....ur attention to CIT v. Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. [1961] 42 ITR 589. In that case the Supreme Court considered the question as to when can a question of law be said to arise out of the Tribunal's order within the meaning of s., 66(1) of the 1922 Act. That is not the problem before us. Here, we have to consider the scope of the words " finding or direction " occurring in s. 17(2) of the W.T. Act, on which the Supreme Court has specifically ruled that the finding or direction must be absolutely necessary for the disposal of the appeal. This case is, therefore, not helpful. On a change of opinion reassessment proceedings could possibly be initiated under cl. (b) of s. 17 provided the officer initiates the proceedings in consequence o....