“18. The genesis of the issue before us lies within the folds of this section. Sections 158BD and 158BC, along with the rest of Chapter XIV-B, find application only in the event of discovery of "undisclosed income" of an assessee. "Undisclosed income" is defined by section 158B as that income "which has not been or would not have been disclosed for the purposes of this Act". The Legislature has chosen to define "undisclosed income" in terms of income not disclosed, without providing any definition of "disclosure" of income in the first place. We are of the view that the only way of disclosing income, on the part of an assessee, is through filing of a return, as stipulated in the Act, and, therefore, an "undisclosed income" signifies income not stated in the return filed. Keeping that in mind, it seems that the Legislature has clearly carved out two scenarios for income to be deemed as undisclosed : (i) where the income has clearly not been disclosed, and (ii) where the income would not have been disclosed. If a situation is covered by any one of the two, income would be undisclosed in the eyes of the Act and, hence, subject to the machinery provisions of Chapter XIV-B. The second category, viz., where income would not have been disclosed, contemplates the likelihood of disclosure ; it is a presumption of the intention of the assessee since in concluding that an assessee would or would not have disclosed income, one is ipso facto making a statement with respect to whether or not the assessee possessed the intention to do the same. To gauge this, however, reliance must be placed on the surrounding facts and circumstances of the case.”
