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TMI Blog1971 (1) TMI 22X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ldest son is Dwarkadas and the three minor sons are Gowardhandas, Hiralal and Sunderlal. On 3rd January, 1949, each of the three minor sons made a voluntary return of income for the above assessment year. The return was signed by Dwarkadas. The return showed the income received by the minor as his share of profits in the said partnerships. The Income-tax Officer, however, has passed no order whatever on that return. He, however, included the income of the 3 minors shown in the returns in the assessment of their mother, Sodradevi, treating the same as being includible under the provisions of section 16(3)(a)(ii). Sodradevi filed an appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner against the inclusion of the income of the minors in her assess ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... holding that the return of income filed by the assessee under the signature of his elder brother was a valid return ? 2. Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that initiation of action under section 34 was bad and time-barred and the assessment was void ? " The Tribunal refused to refer the first question applied for giving its reasons for the same, but referred the second question applied for but with a slight modification. The revenue has made no complaint nor has it any grievance against the modification. so made when referring the question. The question as referred is : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the action taken by the Income-tax Officer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l. The Tribunal has, therefore, made this reference as a single reference and has submitted a single statement of the case. We propose to deal with the cases of all the three minors as a single case and will hereafter proceed as if there was but one assessee, but whatever we say will apply to each of the said three minor assessees. So far as the question referred is concerned, Mr. Thakar, the learned counsel for the assessee, pointed out that the assessee had in fact filed a voluntary return, but the Income-tax Officer has not at any time proceeded with the assessment nor has he passed any order in connection with that voluntary return. He contended that when in respect of any year a return has been voluntarily submitted for assessment, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... old that the Income-tax Officer had no legal right to issue notice under section 34(1)(b) which he in fact issued. Because of that reason, the question referred must be answered in the negative. Mr. Hajarnavis, however, sought to distinguish the facts in the said three cases from the facts in the case before us. He pointed out that in Ranchhoddas's case, on the date when the notice under section 34 was issued, the time to make the assessment on the voluntary return had not expired and it was possible for the Income-tax Officer to proceed to assess on the basis of the voluntary return, whereas in the case before us, on the date when the notice under section 34 was issued, the assessment on the basis of the voluntary return had become time-b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the three years. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court applied the said ratio equally in respect of all the three years. In the light of these two judgments of the Supreme Court, although a distinction in fact exists as between the case before us and Ranchhoddas's case, we cannot make any difference in the legal position on the basis of such distinction. It is true that it appears that in these two latter cases, no such distinction was sought to be made and the Supreme Court has not specifically considered or decided that the ratio of Ranchhoddas's case can apply even to cases where the making of assessment is barred at the date when the notice under section 34 is issued, but, in our opinion, it is not open to us to make such a distinction when ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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