TMI Blog1997 (6) TMI 17X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tax Act ? " The facts leading to the reference of this question are briefly stated hereunder : The assessee is an employee of the Peerless General Finance and Investment Company Limited. For the assessment year 1982-83, for which the previous year ended by March 31, 1982, he filed a nil return along with a letter seeking permission, presumably under section 3(4) of the Act, to change the previous year from March 31, 1981, to June 30, 1982, and undertook to offer the income during the period April 1, 1981, to June 30, 1982, for assessment for the assessment year 1983-84. This request was, however, rejected on the ground that the accounting year ended on March 31, 1982, and that such a request ought to have been made before the said date bu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d him to entertain the appeal on that point and give a decision on the merits and thus allowed the assessee's appeal. It is from that order of the Tribunal, the above question had arisen. It will be apt to refer to section 246 of the Act, in so far as it is relevant for our purpose, under which an appeal may be preferred by an assessee : " 246. Appealable orders. --- Any assessee aggrieved by any of the following orders of an Income-tax Officer may appeal to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner against such order--- . . . (c) an order against the assessee, where the assessee denies his liability to be assessed under this Act or any order of assessment under sub-section (3) of section 143 or section 144, where the assessee objects to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ded under section 246 of the Act. Any order passed by the Income-tax Officer, which has a bearing on the order of assessment either in regard to the amount of income assessed or the amount of tax determined or the amount of loss computed or to the status under which an assessee is assessed, can be validly objected to in the appeal, filed against the order of assessment. The Punjab High Court in Delhi Registered Stockholders (Iron and Steel) Association Ltd. v. CIT [1966] 59 ITR 16, took the view that no appeal would lie against the order of the Income-tax Officer refusing to change the assessment year. That case had arisen under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. The assessee therein made an application under sub-clause (a) of clause (i) of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Tribunal was right in holding that that matter could not be agitated in appeal and the fact that the order was a composite one would, in the opinion of the Division Bench, make no difference. A similar point arose before the Calcutta High Court in CIT v. Sri Hari Prosad Lohia [1983] 143 ITR 276. That case had arisen under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The assessee therein sought the consent of the Income-tax Officer for the change of the accounting period from Diwali to the financial year. The Income-tax Officer had permitted the change. However, the successor-Income-tax Officer while passing the order of assessment under section 143(3) of the Act took the view that the assessee was not entitled to change the accounting period and accordin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Act there may be various grounds available to an assessee under law ; each of such grounds need not necessarily arise out of an appealable order. There is only one appeal but not as many appeals as there are grounds and pleas taken in the appeal. In an appeal against the order of assessment the crux of the matter is whether the ground urged in appeal has merit in law but not whether on each of the pleas taken an appeal is maintainable. Therefore, the contention that no appeal against an order passed under section 3(4) of the Act is provided so the validity of the order declining to grant permission for the change cannot be assailed against the order of assessment, is misconceived. In our view in an appeal against the composite order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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