TMI Blog1977 (1) TMI 4X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inafter referred to as the Act) : "Where an order apportioning the liability to the tax on the basis of partition has not been passed in respect of a Hindu family hitherto assessed as undivided or joint, such family shall be deemed for the purposes of the Act, to continue to be a Hindu undivided or joint family." The High Court held that the facts of this case were covered by the above quoted rule. The High Court also repelled the challenge to the vires of the rule. The appeals arise out of seven petitions filed under articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India by the appellant which were dismissed by a common judgment. The matter relates to assessment years 1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1951-52 and 1955-56. Each writ petition related to one of these years. We may set out the facts relating to the assessment year 1946-47, as it is the common case of the parties that the decision about the writ petition relating to that year would govern the other writ petitions also. The appellant, Sashi Prasad Barooah, was the karta of a Hindu undivided family styled as S. P. Barooah and others. The family was governed by the Dayabhaga school of Hindu law and consi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... have reason to believe that your total agricultural income from sources chargeable to agricultural income-tax in the year ending the 31st March, 1947, to 1959-- (a) has wholly escaped assessment ; (b) I therefore propose-- (i) to assess the said income that has escaped assessment. I hereupon require you to deliver to me not later than August 15, 1959, or within 30 days of the receipt of this notice, a return in the attached form of your total agricultural income during the previous year ending the 31st March, 1946 to 1958." Accompanying the two notices sent by the Agricultural Income-tax Officer was also a notice under section 19(2) and section 30 of the Act. The appellant failed to submit a return or to furnish certified copies of the Central assessment orders. The Agricultural Income-tax Officer, as per order dated June 22, 1961, assessed the total agricultural income of the appellant for the year 1946-47 to be Rs. 1,45,994. An amount of Rs. 19,321.44 was held to be recoverable from the appellant. The appellant filed an appeal against that order but the same was dismissed by the Assistant Commissioner of Taxes on December 27, 1962. Revision filed by the appellant w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urged, as was done before the High Court, that after the disruption of that family, it could not be assessed under the Act. Rule 23 reproduced above, according to the learned counsel, is not attracted in the present case. In case, however, it be held that the said rule applies to the present case, the State Government, Mr. Sen submits, had no power to make such a rule. The above contentions have been controverted by Mr. Chatterjee on behalf of the respondents. The learned counsel has also emphasised the fact that in none of the communications sent by the appellant mentioned above, there was any reference to partition of the Hindu undivided family. After giving the matter our consideration, we are of the opinion that the two contentions advanced by Mr. Sen on behalf of the appellant are not well-founded. It is consequently not necessary for us to go into the question as to what is the effect of the omission of the appellant to refer to the partition in the communications sent by him to the Agricultural Income-tax Officer. It may be apposite at this stage to refer to the material provisions, as they stood at the relevant time, of the Act which provides for the imposition of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me before the assessment is made, and any return so made shall be deemed to be made in due time under this section." Section 20 provides for the making of an assessment order. Section 30 deals with income escaping assessment, and its material part reads as under : " If for any reason any agricultural income chargeable to agricultural income-tax has escaped assessment for any financial year, or has been assessed at too low a rate, the Agricultural Income-tax Officer may, at any time within three years of the end of that financial year, serve on the person liable to pay agricultural income-tax on such agricultural income or, in the case of a company on the principal officer thereof, 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." Section 50 empowers the State Government to make rules. The material part of that section reads as under : " 50. (1) The Provincial Government may, subject to previous publication, make rules ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... submits that the power which has been conferred by clause (j) of sub-section (2) of section 50 of the Act is to make rules prescribing the manner in which the tax shall be payable when the assessment is made on the agricultural income of a Hindu undivided or joint family and a partition of the property of such family has been effected after the date of such assessment. It is urged that, apart from that, the State Government has no power to make a rule for assessment of a Hindu undivided family after a partition takes place in such family. This contention is devoid of force as we are of the opinion that the State Government was competent to make the part of rule 23 reproduced above in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 50. According to that sub-section, the State Government may subject to previous publication make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act. It has not been disputed before us that there was previous publication of the rules in question. The question is whether the part of rule 23 reproduced above can be said to have been made for carrying out the purposes of the Act. The answer to this question, in our opinion, should be in the affir ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he proposition is well settled that it is not unconstitutional for the legislature to leave it to the executive to determine details relating to the working of taxation laws, such as the selection of persons on whom the tax is to be laid, the rates at which it is to be charged in respect of different classes of goods, and the like (See Pt. Banarsi Das Bhanot v. State of Madhya Pradesh [1958] 9 STC 388 (SC)). In that case this court dealt with the provisions of the Central Provinces and Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947. The said Act provided for exemption from taxation in respect of the supply of certain material. Power was also conferred upon the State Government to amend such exemption by notification. This court upheld the validity of that notification. We may also refer to the case of Powell v. Apollo Candle Company Ltd. [1885] 10 App Cas 282, 291 (PC), which dealt with section 133 of the Customs Regulation Act of 1879 of New South Wales. That section conferred a power on the Governor to impose tax on certain articles of import. While repelling the challenge to the constitutional validity of that provision, the Privy Council observed : " It is argued that the tax in question has ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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