The First Additional Income-Tax Officer, Mysore versus H.N.S. Iyengar

Income Ta.-lnco171e escaping assessment-Notice to mrike re!u.rn-T.imitation-Eight years, if from end of acconnti'.ng or a.Jse.8ment yar-' Any year', Meaning ofln'lian lnome-tric Act, 1922 (II of 1.922), 88. 22(1), 34 (J)(a)- India.n Fin.once Act, 1948 (XX of 1948).

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In 1956 a notice was issued to the respondent under s. 34(l)(a) of the Indian Income-tax Act, calling upon him to make a return on the ground that his income had escaped assessment for the year ending 31st March, 1949. The respondent l'.'.on tended that notice under s. 34 of the Act could not be i.sued to him because of the lapse of eight years from the end of the accounting year. This contention was not accepted by the Income Tax Officer. The asse,,ee then filed an application under Art. 226 of the Constitution. The High Court held on a construction of s. 34 of the Act, that the words 'any year' as used ins. 34(l)(a) mean, not the assessment year but the accounting year. The Income-tax officer appealed. The contention was that the words 'any year' in cl. (a) refer to tht'. assessment year.

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Held, that the correct way of interpreting s. 34(l)(a) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, read with the provisions of the Indian Finance Act, 1948, is that the words •for any year 1 mean for any assessment year and not for any accounting year because the as::;cssment is tor the assessment year although of the income which accrued in the previous year (year of account). The nreviou• year for different heads of income falling under different sections of the Indian Income-tax Act may vary but <loes not give different starting points of limitation for different sources of income.

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Panna Lal Nand Lal Bhandari v. Commis•ioner of Income Tax, Bombay City, [1961] 2 S. C.R. 35, referred to.

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C. W. Spenoer v. Income-tax Officer, Madras, [1957] 31 I. T. R. 107, approved.

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CrvIL APPELLATE JuR1snroTION: Civil Appeal No. 60 of 1961.

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2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1962] SUPP.

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J9fiJ 11u First At!ditional Jn&om1-ta.~ 0 J/1ct', Mysore v.

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H. N. S. l;yt•f"'

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Apµeal from the judirroent and order dated September 15, 1958, of the l\Iysore High Court at Bangalore in Writ Petition No. 144 of 1D57.

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K. N. Rajagopal Sastri and P. D. Menon, for for the appellant.

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Rumeshux1r Nath, S. N. Andley and P. L. Vohra, for the respondent.

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October 5. The Judgment of the Court wM delivered by

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KAPt'R, J.-This is an appeal on a certificate of the High Court under Art. 133 ( l )( c) of the Constitution against the judgment and ordC'r of the High Court of Jllysore passed in a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution of Indh. The • appellant before us is the lst Additional Incometax Officer and the respondent is the assessee, and the matter relates to tho assessment vear 1948-49 tho accounting year being 1947·48. •

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The facts of this appeal are as follows : On November 27, 1956, a notice was issued to tho respondent under s. 34 (l)(a) of the Indian Incometax Act calling upon him to make a return on the ground that his income had escaped assessment for the assessment year ending 31st March, 1949. This notice was served on the respondent on No\·ember 29, 1956. The responde?1t objected that no notice under s. 34 of the Income-tax Act could be issued to him because of the lapse of eight yea.rs frvm the end of the accounth1g year. This objection was overruled and the respondent filed on June 12, 19:37, in the High Court of Mysore, a petition under Art. ~~6 of the Constitution for a writ of certiorari quashing the order made by the Income.tax Officer.

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The High Court held on a construction of s. 34 of the Indian Income.tax Act, that the word~ "any year" ns used in s. 34(1 )(a) mean not the assessment year but the accounting year. It is that question which is required to be decided in this appeal. Section 34(1 )(a) reads :-

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(I) S.C.R. SUPREME OOURT REPORTS

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3

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s. 34(1) "If-

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(a) the Income-tax Officer has reason to believe that by reason of the omission or failure on the part of an assessee to make a return of his income under section 22 for any year or to disclose fully and truly all material facts necessary for his assessment for that year, income .• profits or gains chargeable to income-tax have escaped assf'sRment for that year, or have been under-assessed, or assessed at too low a rate, or have been made the subject of exceHsive relief under the Act, or excessive lo~R or depreciation allowance has bPen computed, or

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(b) ................................................. .. he may in cases falling under clause (a) at any time within eight years serve on the assessee, or if the assessee is a company, on the principal officer thereof, a noti0e 0ontiiining all or any of the rc·quirements which may be included in a notice under sub-section (2) of section 22 and may proceed to assess or re-assess such income, profits or g~ins or recompute the loss or depreciation allowance; and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply accordingly as if the notice were a notice issued under that sub-section;".

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IP61

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The Firat Additional lnc(Jme~tax Offic1r, Mysore

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v.

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H. N. S, {yengar Kapu,-J.

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The argument is that the words "any year" in cl.( a) refer to the assessment year because under the Income-tax Act the income of the previous year is assessed for the assessment year. For this purpose reference was made to some of the other provisions of the Income-tax Act. In s. 3 of that Act, which is the charging section, it is provided:-

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S. 3 "Where any (Central Act) enacts that income-tax shall be charged for any year at any rate or rates tax at that rate or those rates shall be charged for that year in accordance with, and subject to the provisions

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...

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SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1962) SlTPP.

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1k FirJt Additiorral /1.co'f'!'>-:•:Q)( 0 ffic1r, }.-~';J(J'ft

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..

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H. 1''. S. 1;-tntar

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Kaprn J.

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of, this Act in respect of (the total income) of the previous year of every (individual, Hindu undivided family, (company and other local authority, and of every firm and other associat.ion of persons or the partners of the firm or the members of the association individually)"'.

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This shows that income-tax is charged for "any year" at the rate or rates set out in a Central Act and the reference is to the Indian Finance Act-in this c.ase to that of 1948, (Act XX of lfl·!S). Section 9 of that Act rcads_as follows :-

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S. 9( l) "Subject to the prodsion8 of sub-sections (3),(4), (5) and (6), for th~ year beginning on the Ist day of April, I 948,-

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(a) income-tax shall be charged at th(' rates speeified in Part I of tho Second Schedule to this Act, and

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(b) ................................................ .

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(2) In making any assessment for the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1949,

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(3) In making any assessment for tho year ending on the 31st chy of l\forch, I 949,-

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(a) .................................................. .

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(b) ........................................ ··········

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It is qnitc clear from this R"etfon that nccorclin~ to the Finance A<;t. 1!)48. th .. inconw tnx 1r;" to'bc charged at the rats specified in the Schedule attached thereto for the year beginning on the !st day of April, 19·18, and the asi;csment waH for the vcar ending on March 31, 1949 under Rilb·ss. (2) and (3). ThuR according to the Indian Financ,e Ac:t assessment waa to be mado for the year ending !\larch 31, I 949 at rates sp<'rified for the year beginning April I, 1948. ·

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Coming now to s. 22( l) it is there pro\·ided that s. 22(1) "_The Income-tux Officer

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(I) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 5

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shall, on or before the 1st day of May in each year give notice by publication in the preH$ s nd by publication in the prescribed mam1u, requiring every person whose total income during the previous year exceeded the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income.tax to furnish, within such period not being less than sixty days as may be specified in the notice, a return, in the prescribed manner, setting forth (along with such other particulars as may be required by the notiee) his total income and total world income during that year : ............. "

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1961

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'l'lu First Additional lometax Officer Mysore v.

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H. N. S. Iyengar KapurJ •

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It shows, therefore, that a return has to be made for the year of assessment in regard to the total ineomc during the previous year which is the accounting year; in other words income-tax is assessed for the assessment year on total income of the previous year.

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\Vhen under s. 34 (1) (a) a return is required the return has to be made under e. 22 for any year, and when the reference is to omission to make a return of the income under s. 22 for any year, the year is tho assessment year, although the income which is declared relates to the previous year. The reference in o!. (a) of sub·s. (1) to s. 22 of the Act therefore makes the meaning of the phrase "for any year" referable to an assessment year. The clause makes it clear that an assessee can be called upon to make a full and true disclosure of a.II materials necessary for his assessment of that year which necessarily must mean an assessment year and it is, in our opinion, erroneous to say that a return under s. 22 of the assessees income for any year would have a different meaning in the first part from that dealing with the full and true disclosure of all material facts necessary for the assessment for that year.

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With due respect to the learned Judges of the High Court who gave the decision, the view

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6 [_SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1962] SUPP.

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Tiu r·irst Adci1l-:0110.l /ncom•-tax Ojffrer, M·nort_ v. JI.~~-. S. l;·t11ca:

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Kapur J.

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taken by them a;i tu the meaning of "any yPar·• was erroneou8, and the <:urrcct way of inteqm·ting s. 34 (l) (a) is that the words "for i\ny year"' mean for a11y assei;sment y<'ar and 11<1t fur any account.· ing y<'ar because, as we have snid above, the assessmeut i~ for the asseo>mellt year althougll of the income which accrued in thf-: previous year. It may he added that the prcviou;; ·'ear fur different he:tds of income falling umler diffl'n·nt ections of the Indian Income-tax Act may vary and it could .wt have been the intllntion of the L<'gislature to give different starting points of limitntion for differ<'nt sources of inco111c. !leading the Yarious sections of the Indian Income Tax Act, \I hich are set out above and the provisions of Indian Finuncc Act I 948, it is clear that the \"Or<ls "that year'' in s. 34 (I) (a) have rcfernce tu the iisse&Bmcnt year :ind not the accuunting year.

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Our attention was drawn to n. judgment of this court in Pannalal Sand/al Bhawlm i v. Com m·issioner of lncome-l<t.r, Bombay City('). In that ual!e it was hold that once a notice is givl·n in tllf' pn•scribed manner under s. :?2 (I) of the fnc,011a'-taX Act every person whose income exceeds the maximum amount, exempt from tax, is obliged to submit a return, and, if he docs not do so it will be deemed that there was an omi""ion on hi" part within s. :!4 (I) (a). The question now debated was not raised there but it was observed that the notices had been issued within eight years from tho end of the years of assessment and if cl. (I) (al of s. 34 was applied the assessment was not barred hy the law of Limitation. It was also observed at page 79 that "the appellant not having Rubmittcd a return in pursuance of the notice issued under s. 22 (I) the Income-tax Officer was competent under s. 34 (I) (a) to issue notice at any time within eight years of tho end of the year of assessment for assessing him to tio.x''.

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(I) [1961] 2 S. C.R. 35.

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(I) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 7

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, The appellant also relied upon C.W. Spencer v. Income-tax Office,r, Madras('). It was there observed:

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"The period of limitation,· whether it is , eight years for cases falling under section 34 (1) (a) .or four years falling under section 34 (1) (b), has to be computed from the end of that year. Though the expression "year" has not been further defined by section 34 itself, it should be clear from the context to the section itself that the year referred to is the assessment year and has no reference to the accounting year, which is elsewhere specified by the Act itself as the previous year."

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1961

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The First Additi01un lncome~tax Officer, Mysora v.

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H. N. S. {y1ngar

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Kapur .I .

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In our opinion therefore, the view taken by the Madras High Court in 0. W. Spencer's (') ca'se is tl:ie eorrect view and the view taken by the learned judges of the Mysore High Court is erroneous. We therefore allow this appeal, set aside the judgment and order of the Hight Court by which the proceedings taken against the respondent were quashed. • The respondent will pay the costs of the appeal in this court and in the High Court.

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(I) [1957] 31 I. r. R. 107,

The First Additional Income-Tax Officer, Mysore v. H.N.S. Iyengar

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