TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1971 (7) TMI 34
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....of the Act, and for the assessment year 1969-70 the assessment was under section 143(3). The previous year of the petitioner ends on the 30th day of June. Therefore, under sub-section (1) of section 139, it is required to file the return of income before the 30th day of June of the assessment year. Though the petitioner had income which exceeded the maximum which is not, chargeable to income-tax under the Act, it did not submit returns before the 30th day of June of the relevant assessment years. The Income-tax Officer also did not issue any notice under section 139(2) except for the assessment year 1969-70. Proceedings were taken for assessment under section 147 and for that purpose notices were issued under section 148 requiring the peti....
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....sion of time to file the return and not in cases where the assessee files the return within the time fixed in the notice issued under section 148 or section 139(2). His second contention was that the Commissioner was bound to give a hearing before he rejected the application under section 271(4A) of the Act and he not having done so, his order is liable to be quashed. In our judgment, both the contentions are untenable and have to be rejected. The petitioner who was bound to submit its returns on or before the 30th of June of each relevant assessment year, did not file the returns within the due dates ; it filed the returns long after the due dates, but within the dates specified in the notices issued under section 148 and section 139(2). ....
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.... Act, he may make an application to the Income-tax Officer for extension of time and the Income-tax Officer is empowered to extend the date for the furnishing of the return. Similar power is conferred on the Income-tax Officer for extension of time for the furnishing of the return when no notice under section 139(2) is issued but where the assessee makes an application for extension of time voluntarily and that power is conferred under the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 1.39. The extension of time for the furnishing of the return either under sub-section (1) of section 139 or under sub-section (2) of section 139 may be granted up to the 30th day of September or the 31st day of December of the assessment year, as the case may be, with....
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.... return of his income. Section 139 as it stood before its amendment by the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 1970, did not empower the levy of interest where the assessment is completed without the assessee furnishing a return of his income. Such an assessee may be subject to other liabilities under the Act but was not chargeable to interest. Therefore, the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court holding that no interest could be levied on the petitioner was right on the merits of the case. But, the observation made therein that sub-clause (iii) of the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 139 has no application where the assessee does not request for time for submitting his return is too wide a statement from which we respectfully dissent. ....