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2023 (7) TMI 1216 - HC - Income TaxOrders u/s 201(1) and 201(1A) - period of limitation - Tribunal setting aside the order passed by the Assessing Officer finding it to be beyond four years - HELD THAT:- Insofar as the reasonable time, as held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, it is trite that when no period of limitation is prescribed by a statute, even then the Department cannot pass orders after the expiry of a reasonable period. It has also been held in various decisions that the reasonable period can be understood from the provisions of the subject statute, disclosing the scheme of the statute, where limitation is provided with respect to other actions by the Department. The various High Courts, as referred to above, deemed reasonable time to be four years, as is coming out from the various provisions of the Income Tax Act itself. True, the provision was amended bringing in a limitation of four years, in 2010 and then later extended to six years and seven years. Providing a specific period of limitation by the Union Parliament indicates, though it is not applicable to the subject assessment orders, the wisdom of the legislature. The presumable object behind that is not to leave the matter to the vagaries of the Department officials. It is also pertinent that at first the reasonable limitation period prescribed by the Union Parliament was four years; which was the reasonable time, as deemed by the various High Courts. We refer to Union of India v. Kaumudini Narayan Dalal [2000 (12) TMI 101 - SC ORDER] Commissioner of Income Tax v. Narendra Doshi [2001 (7) TMI 10 - SUPREME COURT], Commissioner of Income Tax v. Shivsagar Estate [2002 (7) TMI 103 - SC ORDER] and Berger Paints India Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income Tax [2004 (2) TMI 4 - SUPREME COURT] The established principle is that, if the Revenue has not challenged a declaration of law laid down by a High Court and accepted it in the case of one assessee, then it is not open to the Revenue to challenge its correctness in the case of other assessees, without just cause. Decided in favour of the assessee.
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