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TMI Blog1976 (3) TMI 84X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Total Wealth Determined Tax Payable 1965-66 Rs. 3,07,854 Rs. 1,039 1966-67 Rs. 3,58,216 Rs. 1,291 (Rs. 894 u/s 35) 1967-68 Rs. 4,07,860 Rs. 1,039 1968-69 Rs. 4,49,920 Rs. 1,250 1969-70 Rs. 4,59,930 Rs. 1,300 1970-71 Rs. 4,56,768 Rs. 415 1971-72 Rs. 4,20,365 Rs. 2,182 1972-73 Rs. 4,26,911 Rs. 4,226 Subsequently at the time of 73-74 assessment, the WTO noticed that the respondent had not admitted all the vacant sites owned by him in Chilakaluripet in the original wealth-tax returns. He therefore, reopened the wealth-tax assessments for all the above years and recomputed the wealth as follows. The wealth determined for the asst. yr. 1973-74 is also given below:-- Asst. yr. Wealth Determined Tax Demanded Addl. T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... disclosed all the items of wealth. He collected full details from the assessee regarding the extent of sites owned by him in Chilakaluripet from the beginning and also the details for the items sold. On the basis of these details, he came to the conclusion that not only in the accounting years relevant for the asst. yr. 1973-74 but also in the earlier years there was omission on the part of the assessee to disclose all the items of vacant sites in Chilakaluripet. In addition to this omission, he further opined that the respondent had reduced the sale value from the value of the admitted sites even though such deduction ought not to have been made by him. Taking into account of actual extent of sites owned in the relevant assessment years a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e that he would have though of concealing these small sites to the value of Rs. 15,000 from his wealth. It is also pertinent to point out in this context that the assessee had after all to pay a penalty sum of wealth tax on the value of Rs. 15,000 or even less in the first few years and for avoiding such a paltry tax, he would not take the risk of omitting the paltry wealth of Rs. 15,000 and court the penalty of equal to the wealth. This is a vital aspect which cannot be ignored. Having regard to these aspects, I hold that this is not a fit case for levy of penalty." So observing, the AAC accepted the contentions of the assessee and allowed the appeals. 3. Aggrieved, the Department has filed the present appeals for all the relevant assess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st be attributable to the accused i.e. it must have been done intentionally and not accidentally. These are the principles well entrenched in a criminal jurisprudence. It is well established that penalty proceedings are quasi-criminal proceedings. The onus in such proceedings was not of an ambulatory or shifting character but the onus was finally upon the Department to prove its right to impose what was a severe penalty, If we apply these principles to the facts of the present case, we encounter no difficulty in holding that the Department has not made out a prime facie case to impose what was a severe penalty. We presently state our reasons. The respondent admitted the value of about 35 cents at Rs. 1,850. The WTO, however, fixed the valu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... enied and indeed it is undeniable that the books were examined by the ITO who also performed the duties of the WTO at the time of original assessments. Mr. Swamy, the learned counsel, has argued that the omission to show all these sites was committed for the asst. yr. 1964-65 and that omission was repeated for all the subsequent years. The said omission was due to inadvertadc or wrong impression entertained right from the beginning. We see no compelling or cogent reason why we should not attached credence to the explanation offered by the assessee for the omission to include the value of the sites in the net wealth for the purpose of wealth-tax. It appears that when this minor omission was discovered by the assessee, he rushed to the WTO an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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