9911796707
TMI Blog1997 (11) TMI 44X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erives some income from interest and other sources and is also one of the trustees of a charitable trust known as "Durlabhji Trust for Development, Jaipur" settled on August 28, 1985, by Sri Khail Shankar Durlabji, the late father of the petitioner. The said trust is duly registered under section 12A of the Act with the Commissioner of Income-tax and its income is exempt from tax under section 11 of the Act. It is assessed in the status of association of persons (AOP). The petitioner filed the return of his income for the assessment year 1986-87, relevant to the previous year ending on March 31, 1986, on September 29, 1986, declaring his income at Rs. 12,000 only. Prior to that the return of income, in the case of the trust, for the same assessment year had been filed on August 29, 1985, declaring a deficit income of Rs. 1,169. The only income from interest received from the bank had been shown at Rs. 207 only against which office expenses had been claimed at Rs. 1,365. However, the balance-sheet showed receipt of donation to the corpus of the trust at Rs. 5,58,507. The case of the trust was, therefore, taken up for scrutiny. On scrutiny it was noted that donation of Rs. 5,07,507 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r waiver of the interest leviable. On April 17, 1989, further similar petitions for the assessment years 1982-83, 1985-86 and 1986-87 were filed. A supplementary petition under section 273A for the assessment year 1986-87 was also made on June 7, 1989. The learned Commissioner took up the petition as filed by the petitioner on February 27, 1989, for consideration and relying on the Allahabad High Court decision in Hakam Singh v. CIT [1980] 124 ITR 228, held that the disclosure made by the petitioner was not voluntary. Accordingly, he rejected the petitioner's petition under section 273A on October 31, 1990. The main contention of Mr. Anat Kasliwal, learned counsel for the petitioner, is that on coming to know of the investigations and enquiries being made in the case of the trust behind the back of the trustees with regard to the genuineness of the donations, alleged to have been received towards the corpus fund of the trust during the year under consideration, the petitioner, in view of his ill health and in order to avoid litigation and purchase peace, voluntarily offered a sum of Rs. 1,90,000 to be taxed as his income in his personal case to cover all such donations the genuine ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in, C.A., arrived at the clear and unambiguous conclusion that the disclosure made by the petitioner of his income at Rs. 1,90,000 was not voluntary. Mr. Jain stressed that the finding recorded by the learned Commissioner was a finding of fact and the same should not be disturbed in exercise of writ jurisdiction of this court as in the exercise of its said exceptional and extraordinary jurisdiction this court is not to act as an appellate or revisional court in a matter. Mr. Jain further submitted that in their reply, which was duly supported by the affidavit of Mr. G. C. Bansal, Income-tax Officer, Ward (1), Jaipur, the respondents had clearly denied the entering into by the Department of any sort of agreement with the petitioner regarding the levy of penalties and/or charge of interest. Mr. Jain summed up by stating that the learned Commissioner had exercised the discretion vested in him under section 273A in a judicial and judicious manner and the impugned order was valid in law. After having thoughtfully considered the arguments advanced by learned counsel for the parties before me and on consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case I am of the opinion that this pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ther assessment year at any time after the making of such order : Provided that where an order has been made in favour of any person under sub-section (1) on or before the 24th day of July, 1991, such person shall be entitled to further relief only once in relation to the other assessment year or years if he makes an application to the income-tax authority referred to in sub-section (4) at any time before the 1st day of April, 1992. (4) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on him by any other provision of this Act, the Commissioner may, on an application made in this behalf by an assessee, and after recording his reasons for so doing, reduce or waive the amount of any penalty payable by the assessee under this Act or stay or compound any proceeding for the recovery of any such amount, if he is satisfied that--- (i) to do otherwise would cause genuine hardship to the assessee, having regard to the circumstances of the case ; and (ii) the assessee has co-operated in any enquiry relating to the assessment or any proceeding for the recovery of any amount due from him : Provided that where the amount of any penalty payable under this Act or, where such application relates to m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... leviable or interest paid or payable is to be exercised in a judicial and not in an arbitrary manner. Such power vested in the Commissioner being quasijudicial in nature affecting the liability of the citizen he is required to state the reasons in support of his conclusions. Keeping in mind that the main objects of section 273A(1) is to encourage and facilitate voluntary disclosure of their concealed incomes by the assessees by throwing a temptation of giving reliefs against penalties, prosecutions, and charge of interest the Commissioner is required to feel satisfied of the fulfilment of the requirements for the application of the provisions contained in section 273A. If it is found that the assessee has made true disclosure of his concealed income in good faith and has also co-operated with the Department in his assessment and had also not otherwise disentitled himself to the grant of the discretionary relief, the relief prayed for be ordinarily granted to him. Submitting the return of income without waiting for the issuance of notice under section 139 or 148 is indicative of law abiding conduct of a duty conscious assessee and generally the return so filed is characterised as a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mes did not justify the extent of the donations made by them. It was on such facts and for such reasons that the learned Commissioner had finally concluded that the disclosure made by the petitioner of his further income at Rs. 1,90,000 was not voluntary. It is thus clear that before exercising his discretionary power under section 273A in the way he did the learned Commissioner had not only given a fair opportunity of being heard to the petitioner but had also considered all the relevant facts and circumstances of the case attending upon the disclosure made by the petitioner in the revised return. The finding recorded by him in regard to the voluntary character of the return filed subsequently and the good faith of the petitioner in making disclosure of his income from other sources at Rs. 1,90,000 are, therefore, essentially findings of facts and since such findings are based on reasonable and fair appreciation of the evidence on the record of the Commissioner and the circumstances of the case, those can hardly be made the subject-matter of the writ jurisdiction of this court under article 226 of the Constitution. The existence of an agreement or assurance regarding waiver of in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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