TMI Blog1964 (4) TMI 126X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at he had complied with the requisition of the notices issued by the Income-tax Officer and the best judgment assessment, therefore, was not justified. The application was rejected by the Income- tax Officer. In the arguments before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in the appeal, which the assessee preferred against the order of the Income- tax Officer, an additional ground was taken, viz., that the notices under section 22(4) were invalid and, consequently, the Income-tax Officer had no right to make a best judgment assessment for non-compliance with the said notices. The argument advanced was that prior to the amendment of section 22(4) were the Amending Act of 1953, the Income-tax Officer could under the said section ask only for the production of accounts and documents and not for any other information or particulars. The amendment made by the Amending Act of 1953 gave power to the Income-tax Officer to require the assessee to supply particulars and information in addition to the accounts and documents, but this amendment became operative only from the 1st April, 1952, and, therefore, could not apply to assessments of a period prior to the said date. Since the assessment in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amendment is retrospective could have applied to the present provision. In view of the specific intention declared by the legislature, no greater retrospective effect than making it operative only from 1st April, 1952, can be given to the said provision. Mr. Kolah's further argument is that even if it is assumed that the amendment is only in the procedural law, the procedural law is also subject to constitutional limitations and, consequently, even the procedural law, which is discriminatory will be affected by article 14 of the Constitution and thus rendered ineffective. Mr. Kolah's argument in this connection is that by giving retrospective effect to the provision of section 22(4) assessees similarly situated will be affected differently. According to him, all assessees, who are liable to pay income-tax for a given assessment year, are persons similarly situated. Thus all assessees who are liable to pay income-tax for the assessment year 1949-50 form a class of persons similarly situated. Now, in the case of some persons of this class their assessments might have been completed before the amendment of section 22(4) was brought in by the Amending Act of 1953. In the asses ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for the purposes of computation of the tax liability of the assessee, which is fixed and charged by the charging sections of the Act. As has been often said, there are three stages in the imposition of a tax. There is the declaration of the liability, then there is the assessment and finally the recovery and collection. As was observed by the Federal Court in Chatturam v. Commissioner of Income-tax [1947] 15 I.T.R. 302 (F.C.). The liability to pay the tax is founded on sections 3 and 4 of the Income-tax Act, which are the charging sections. Section 22, etc., are the machinery sections to determine the amount of tax. It is in the procedure prescribed for the determination of the amount of tax liability of the assessee that section 22(4) provides that the Income- tax Officer may require the assessee to furnish him with certain accounts or documents or certain other particulars and information. Before the amendment in 1953, the provision of this section had only provided for accounts and documents to be called for. It has now by the amendment also provided that further particulars and information may also be called. But these, it must be remembered, are matters which are rel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ee. Now, before the amendment of section 22(4) the material, which he could call upon the assessee to supply, was accounts and documents. Subsequent to the amendment he is also empowered to call for other particulars and information, but all this is for the purpose of the proper determination of the tax liability, which it is the duty of the Income-tax Officer to determine and of the assessee to discharge. If, for the purpose of the proper determination of this liability, a few things more than what were formerly regarded as sufficient were required to be called for from the assessee, that would not, in our opinion, change either the basic content of the provision or subject the assessee to any hardship or prejudicial treatment. It could not be said that the assessee has any right not to divulge any information or particulars, which are not convenient to him. Up to the time of the amendment of section 22(4) the legislature had not empowered the Income-tax Officer to require them to be furnished by the assessee. But that, in our opinion, is nothing more than a mere change in the procedure. The power under section 22(4) to make a best judgment assessment remains the same as before, v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be given to the provision of section 22(4) because giving it such effect would involve violation of article 14 of the constitution, we are inclined to take the view that no violation of article 14 is involved as is contended by Mr. Kolah. Article 14 would be violated if persons similarly situated are treated differently. It is true that even a procedural law has to conform to constitutional limitations and, therefore, if a procedural provision becomes discriminative because it treats persons similarly situated differently, it will have to be regarded as affected by article 14 of the constitution, but the procedural provision, which, when it is effected, treats all persons to whom it becomes applicable since its introduction in the same manner, can in no way be discriminatory and it cannot have the vice of being discriminatory simply because persons, whose proceedings had already been completed before the change has been introduced, are not affected by the change. Mr. Kolah's argument is that all persons, who are liable to pay tax for a given assessment year form a class of persons, who are similarly situated. If a change of procedure has been brought about at a time when it ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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