9911796707
TMI Blog1973 (8) TMI 16X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 85,937 ? " These questions relate to the assessment year 1948-49. The assessee had returned a loss of Rs. 17,131. The Income-tax Officer completed the assessment on a net loss of Rs. 8,382. As a result of the voluntary disclosure scheme launched by the Government of India the assessee disclosed suppressed income of Rs. 45,000. After some negotiations with the Income-tax Officer, the assessee increased the disclosure to Rs. 50,000. The Income-tax Officer, however, was not satisfied with the disclosure made by the assessee. He made inquiries and then informed the assessee that the concealed income was much more. The assessee did not agree. The Income-tax Officer after investigating into, the matter ultimately made the assessment by holding ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ore Das. If the officer had been supplied any such information the information given to him was absolutely wrong and he would request him to examine such person in his presence with account books so that he might get the chance to cross-examine him and he may be able to establish that the information given to the Income-tax Officer was wrong and without any basis. On 3rd May, 1956, the Income-tax Officer sent a long letter to the assessee in the shape of a charge-sheet indicating the details of the transactions and accounts in which the assessee had received extra profits. In this letter no mention had been made of any witness having been examined or of the fact that the facts and figures in this letter are based upon the statements of any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of the record, but the Income-tax Officer did not allow this request. On these facts the question arises whether the assessee was given an adequate opportunity to meet the material relied upon against him. At this stage it may be stated that the assessing authorities have largely based their conclusion upon reliance on the statements of Chimman Lal Phool Chandra and Nagar Das Dayal Bhai. These witnesses proved the account books of their firms. The account books of the firms gave material upon the basis of which the authorities have come to the conclusion that the suppressed profits of the assessee were Rs. 85,000 and odd. It is thus evident that the statements of the witnesses and the account proved by them formed the foundation of the f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ements of those witnesses although the assessee had requested for it. He did not even supply the substance of the contents of the statements as recorded. The learned standing counsel took us through the correspondence between the Income-tax Officer and the assessee but in none of the letters of the Income-tax Officer there was any indication as to what was the name of the witnesses, much less any semblance of indication as to what he had stated. Under these circumstances the mere grant of the permission to cross-examine those witnesses was an eye-wash. The assessee could not have effectively cross-examined any particular person. The direction that he will issue a commission was illusory. The assessee was not told the names of witnesses or a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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