TMI Blog1981 (11) TMI 25X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Originally for the assessment year 1959-60 the income of the assesseecompany was determined at Rs. 20,53,407 by an assessment order, dated 16th April, 1963. Earlier, notice under s. 18A of the Indian I.T. Act, 1922, was issued to the assessee in May, 1959, demanding advance tax of Rs. 8,65,592 to which the assessee had objected, as according to the assessee the correct amount of the advance tax payable was Rs. 3,23,732. Notice under s. 274 of the I.T. Act, 1961, came to be issued to the assessee to show cause why penalty should not be imposed for under-estimating the profits while paying advance tax and a penalty of Rs. 81,000 was levied against the assessee by the ITO in respect of the assessment year 1959-60. The levy of this penalty ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as challenged in a writ petition filed in this court. One of the grounds, which alone is material for the disposal of this appeal, on which the notice was challenged, was that no action for levy of penalty under s. 273 could be taken against the assessee on the basis of the order passed in reassessment under s. 147 of the Act because the power under s. 273 of the Act can be exercised only if the ITO " in the Course of any proceedings in connection with the regular assessment for any assessment year is satisfied that any assessee has furnished a statement of the advance tax payable by him which he knew or bad reason to believe to be untrue ". The argument before the learned single judge was that when s. 273 refers to it regular assessment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s that after the assessment proceedings were reopened by notice under s. 147, the reassessment must be treated as assessment made under s. 143 and, consequently, the reassessment is also a " regular assessment " within the meaning of those words used in s. 273 of the Act. Apart from the fact that the Kerala, Patna, Punjab and Haryana, Allahabad and Orissa High Courts have taken the view that the words " regular assessment " in s. 273 of the Act do not include a reassessment under s. 147 of the Act and that the meaning of those words in s. 273 must be the same as given in the definition of regular assessment, it appears to us that even otherwise on pure principles of construction, the argument advanced on behalf of the Revenue cannot be ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ore, a clear indication in the Act itself that the reassessment under s. 147 is not the same as assessment under s. 143 or s. 144. simple grammatical construction of these two provisions would also show that the assessments under ss. 143 and 144 are not the same as the one under s. 147 of the Act. When s. 148 refers to the fact that the provisions of the Act shall, so far as may be, apply to the reassessment under s. 147, the effect of it would be only that the machinery, which is earlier prescribed, can be resorted to for the purpose of making reassessment under s. 147 of the Act. The mere fact that the machinery which is availed of for the purpose of assessment under s. 143 or s. 144 of the Act can be availed of while making reassessment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gular assessment " under ss. 143 and 144 and reassessment under s. 147 have been separately dealt with in the different provisions of the Act. Therefore, having regard to the terminology used in s. 273, it will be difficult to hold that the words " regular assessment" in s. 273 should also take in reassessment made under s. 147. The words " regular assessment " which were to be found in sub-s. (9) of s. 18A of the I.T. Act, 1922, have, no doubt, been construed by a Division Bench of this court in Deviprasad Kejriwal's case [1976] 102 ITR 180, cited supra, to cover cases of reassessment under s. 34(1). That decision cannot, however, be of any assistance now for construing s. 273. The distinguishing feature which would be enough to hold tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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