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TMI Blog2013 (7) TMI 582X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... petitioners. Shri Shambhu Chopra and Shri R.K. Upadhyay appear for the Income Tax department. 2. In all these writ petitions the petitioners have prayed for directions to declare the amendments made by the Finance Act, 2007 in Chapter XIX-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (by which it has been provided that the applications for settlement filed prior to the amendment shall abate on 1.4.2008, provided under Section 245-D (4A) and 245-HA of the amending Act) ultra vires the Constitution of India and to direct the Income Tax Settlement Commission, New Delhi to decide the applications on merits on or before 31.3.2008. A further prayer is made to direct the respondents to exclude all materials on the file of the Settlement Commission arising from t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to save them from the vice of arbitrariness. 6. It was held by the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, that where the plain literal interpretation of a statutory provision produces a discriminatory or incongruous or manifestly absurd or unjust result which could never have been intended by the legislature, the Court may modify the language used by the legislature or even do some violence to it, so as to achieve the obvious intention of the legislature and produce a rational construction. An interpretation leading to an unjust, inequitable, harsh and absurd result must be rejected. It further held that since the purported objective of the amendments introduced in Chapter XIX-A by the 2007 Act is to streamline the proceedings before t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its mandatory statutory duty in disposing of such applications as are referred to in section 245D (4A) (i) by the date specified therein except where prevented from doing so due to any reason attributable on the part of the applicant, and that an application in respect of which the Settlement Commission has been prevented from fulfilling the aforesaid mandatory statutory duty due to any reasons attributable on the part of the applicant shall abate on the specified date under section 245HA (1) (iv). In this manner both section 245D (4A) (i) and section 245HA (1) (iv) will have applicability, meaning and effect. We may also clarify that the expression "reasons attributable" should be reasonably construed. While so dealing, the Settlement Comm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is heavy pendency like Delhi and Mumbai. Rules made absolute accordingly. There shall be no order as to costs." 8. The High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi has relied on the reasoning; followed the conclusions drawn in the judgment of Bombay High Court and has preferred to read down the offending provisions instead of declaring them unconstitutional. The judgment was delivered in Writ Petition (T) No.1623 of 2008 (Md. Sanaul Haque vs. Union of India and others) and other connected writ petitions by Division Bench on 21.3.2012. 9. Following the judgment of the Bombay High Court, with which we respectfully agree, and against which the department could not cite any judgment of any other High Court of Apex Court, which may have taken a differe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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