TMI Blog2004 (9) TMI 328X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uential orders were passed on 12-3-2003 by the Assessing Officer, wherein interest payable to the assessee under section 132B(4) was calculated for the period February 1994 to March 1998(for the assessment year 1989-90) and May/September 1994 to March 1998 (for the assessment year 1990-91). The case of the assessee is that under section 132B(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, interest is payable up to March 2003 since the consequential order was passed in March 2003. 3. Before the CIT(A), it was contended that the consequential order passed by the Assessing Officer is also an assessment order and that interest has to be calculated up to the date of passing the assessment order. In this regard, the assessee relied upon the decision of the Hon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rt in the case of Modi Industries Ltd. v. CIT [1995] 216 ITR 759, to hold that the interest is payable only up to the date of passing the first order of assessment. The Apex Court observed that the expression 'regular assessment' has been used in the statute in no other sense than the first order of assessment passed under section 143 or section 144. Since section 132B(4)(b) used the expression 'regular assessment', the learned CIT(A) concluded that the interest is not payable up to the date of passing of the consequential order inasmuch as a consequential order may fall within the meaning of the term 'assessment' but not 'regular assessment'. 5. Further aggrieved, the assessee is in appeal before us. The learned counsel, appearing on beh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sment' means the first order of assessment and thus interest is payable only up to March 1998. 7. We have carefully considered the rival submissions and perused the record. A plain reading of section 132B(4)(b) of the Act indicates that the Legislature has prescribed alternative modes of computation of interest, i.e. (1) interest shall run from the date of order under section 132(5) to the date of regular assessment or reassessment, or (2) from the date of order under section 132(5) to the date of last of such assessments or reassessments. In the second part of the clause, the Legislature has used the expression 'assessment' in contradiction to the expression 'regular assessment' used elsewhere which indicates that if more than one order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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