TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 528
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....Jayapratap, learned Junior Standing Counsel for the respondents. 2. The impugned order has been passed in terms of Section 245F(1) read with Section 154 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (in short, 'Act') on 21.03.2003. The Settlement Commission has rectified the component of interest levied under Section 245F(1) vide order dated 10.04.1998 passed under Section 245D(4) of the Act. However, as the Settlement Commission has been vested with the power of rectification only with effect from 01.06.2011 by insertion of sub-section 6B in Section 245D of the Act, the impugned rectification could not have been effected on 21.03.2003 when such a power did not enure to the Settlement Commission. The provision is extracted below for clarity and comp....
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....een referred to the Constitution Bench of this Court: (i) Whether sections 234A, 234B and 234C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short "the Act") are at all applicable to proceedings of the Settlement Commission under Chapter XIX-A of the Act? (ii) Whether the Settlement Commission can reopen its concluded proceedings by having recourse to section 154 of the Act so as to levy interest under sections 234A, 234B and 234C of the Act, though it was not so done in the original proceedings? (iii) Whether in the absence of period of limitation prescribed for making the order of the Settlement, the relevant date for determining the quantum of interest could be the date of the said order? ..................... (III) Whether the Settlement C....
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....onal amount of tax payable, viz., if the applicant has not filed his returns, if he has filed but orders of assessment are not passed or if the proceedings are pending for re-assessment under section 147 (again in Chapter XIV) or by way of appeal or revision in connection with such re-assessment and the applicant has not furnished his return of total income in which case tax has to be calculated on the aggregate of total income as assessed in the earlier proceedings for assessment under section 143 or under section 144 or under section 147 [see section 245C(1B)]. The point to be noted is that in computation of additional income tax payable by the assessee, there is no mention of section 154. On the contrary, under section 245I the order of ....
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....ion had no such power. But even in Ghaswala, the question as to whether such interest under section 234B should run up to the order under section 245D(1) or up to the date of the order under section 234D(4) was not decided. In fact, that was the reason for the Orders of Reference to the Constitution Bench of this Court vide orders dated 14.12.2004 and 20.1.2005. There is one more reason for this Reference. In the case of CIT v. Hindustan Bulk Carrier [(2003) 259 ITR 449], a 3- Judge Bench of this Court, by majority, held that where, upon the Order of the Settlement Commission under section 245D(4), there arises a deficit in the payment of advance tax under section 208, the end point or the terminus of the period for which interest has to be....