9911796707
TMI Blog1969 (8) TMI 6X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1922, hereinafter called the Income-tax Act, and was assessed to income-tax for the assessment year 1951-52. Appeals were filed against the assessement order before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax and the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, in which substantial reliefs were given to the assessee. After the sale of the tea estate these assessees ceased to have any agricultural income. The case of the assessees as laid in the writ petition was that on January 25, 1961, a letter was received by one of them from the Agricultural Income-tax Officer directing both the assessees to furnish returns of their agricultural income for the assessment years 1949-50 to 1953-54. Thereafter, they received a notice of demand under section 23 of the Act for payment of a certain amount as agricultural income-tax for the assessment year 1950-51. The assessment order was stated to have been made under section 20(4) of the Act. Similar orders were made and demands created with regard to the subsequent years, namely, 1951-52, 1952-53 and 1953-54. All these assessment orders were challenged by means of four petitions under article 226 of the Constitution. Apart from other points which were ra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er exchange of correspondence the company received an assessment order dated June 19, 1961, in repect of the assessment year 1951-52 which was made under section 20(4) of the Act together with a notice of demand for payment of a certain amount of agricultural income-tax. Similar assessment orders were passed under section 20(4) and demands created in respect of the assessment years 1952-53, 1953-54, 1954-55 and 1955-56. All these assessments were challenged by means of five petitions under article 226 of the Constitution. The main point raised in all these petitions was that unless individual notices under section 19(2) of the Act had been served no assessment could be made under section 20(4) except by way of proceedings under section 30 of the Act. In the returns which were filed by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer to all the petitions filed in the High Court it was maintained that the assessees had refused to accept the service of the notices under sections 19(2) and 30 of the Act. The notice under section 19(1) had been published in the Assam Gazette and the assessees were bound to make a return pursuant to that notice. It was denied that there was any necessity of serving ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a return in the prescribed from setting forth his agricultural income during the previous year. Sub-section (2) provides that in the case of any person whose total agricultural income is, in the opinion of the Agricultural Income-tax Officer, of such amount as to render such person liable to payment of agricultural income-tax for any financial year, he may serve in that financial year a notice requiring him to furnish within the prescribed period a return. Sub-section (3) enables a person who has not furnished a return within the time allowed by or under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) to furnish a return or a revised return at any time before the assessment is made. Thus, sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 19 of the Act are identical with and correspond to sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 22 of the Income-tax Act. Under section 20 of the Act if the Agricultural Income-tax Officer is satisfied that a return made under section 19 is correct and complete he has to assess the total agricultural income of the assessee according to it. If he has reason to believe that such a return is incorrect or incomplete he has to serve a notice requiring the person who has made t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ereof, a notice containing all or any of the requirements which may be included in a notice under sub-section (2) of section 19, and may proceed to assess or reassess such income, and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply accordingly as if the notice were a notice issued under that sub-section :... " The principal contention raised on behalf of the appellant is that for an assessment to be made under section 20(4) of the Act it is not necessary that any proceedings should have been taken under section 30. The argument is that assessment proceedings commence with the publication of a general notice under section 19(1) and it is open to the Agricultural Income-tax Officer to make the best judgment assessment under section 20(4) without any limitation as to time. It is not necessary to issue any individual notice under section 19(2) or to initiate proceedings under section 30 in such a situation. Reliance has been placed on the observations in Harakchand Makanji & Co. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, that once a public notice is given under sub-section (1) of section 22 of the Income-tax Act, 1922, which is similar in terms to section 19(1) of the Act, the assessme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... under section 10(3) (under which the Commissioner has to issue a notice if no return is submitted) or under section 11(4) (which provides for the best judgment assessment) of the Sales Tax Act. The statutory obligation to file a return did not initiate the proceedings. (2) Once a statutory return was filed pursuant to a notice under section 10(3) or section 11 of the Sales Tax Act the proceedings did not come to an end until the final assessment was made. (3) The expression " escaped assessment " in section 11A of the Sales Tax Act included that of a turnover which had not been assessed at all because for one reason or the other no assessment proceedings were initiated and no assessment was made in respect thereof. Keeping in view the above principles it must be held that in the absence of a return having been filed by the assessees in the present case pursuant to a general notice under section 19(1) of the Act assessment could be made only after due notice under section 19(2) or by initiating proceedings under section 30 of the Act. Section 19(2) requires that an individual notice is to be served in the financial year. If no notice is served under that section proceedings u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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