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2019 (5) TMI 892 - HC - Income TaxSettlement commission power u/s 245D - application made in terms of Section 245C - Petitioner Company had made full and true disclosure of income along with the manner in which such income was derived - Settlement Commission, by the order u/s 245D(4) without deciding the application on merit, relegated the Petitioner Company to the AO - HELD THAT:- The requirement is that there must be an income disclosed in a return furnished and undisclosed income disclosed to the Commission by a petition u/s 245C. Unlike Section 139 which provides for filing of revised return, there is no provision for revision of an application made in terms of Section 245C. That shows clear legislative intent that the applicant for settlement has to make a true and fair declaration from the threshold. It is on the basis of the application received that the Commission calls for the report to decide whether the application is to be rejected or permitted to be continued. The declaration contemplated in Section 245C is in the nature of voluntary disclosure of concealed income, but as noted above it must be true and fair disclosure. Voluntary disclosure and making a full and true disclosure of the income are necessary preconditions for invoking the Commission’s jurisdiction. In the scheme of thing, we are of the considered opinion that the petitioner company is right in contending that the Settlement Commission could have either rejected the application or allowed it to be proceeded further. If the Commission felt that the matter required further inquiry, it could have directed the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Income Tax to enquire and submit the report to the Commission to take a decision. The Commission could not get round the application for settlement. When a duty is casts on the Commission, it is expected that the Commission would perform the duty in the manner laid down in the Act, especially when no further remedy is provided in the Act against the order of the Settlement Commission. We set aside the order and dispose of the writ petition with a direction to the Settlement Commission to proceed to decide the application for settlement afresh in accordance with law and pass order.
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