TMI Blog1977 (9) TMI 24X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me of Rs. 29,038 on August 30, 1969. Having regard to the provision of section 140A(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), she was required to make self-assessment by September 29, 1969. The amount of tax payable by way of assessment was Rs. 4,342. The assessee did not pay the said tax till the Income-tax Officer made assessment for the assessment year 1968-69 by his order dated August 31, 1971. As no tax was paid by way of self-assessment, an opportunity to show cause why a penalty should not be imposed under section 140A(3) was given to the assessee. She, however, did not offer any explanation. By his order dated October 22, 1973, passed under section 140A(3), the Income-tax Officer levied a penalty of Rs. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ive of the provisions of article 19(1)(f) of the Constitution of India. His submission was that an authority, which is a creature of a statute, has no jurisdiction to go into the validity of the provisions of the statute under which it is constituted. He urged that it may be that so far as the Income-tax Tribunal situate in the State of Madras is concerned, the decision of the Madras High Court in the case of A. M. Sali Maricar [1973] 90 ITR 116 may be treated as an authoritative precedent, but so far as the Income-tax Tribunal at Bombay is concerned, it is merely a persuasive precedent and unless, after following the said decision the Tribunal holds that the section is ultra vires, it cannot set aside the order of penalty. It is the sett ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... there is no specific provision, just like in the case of the Supreme Court making the law declared by the High Court binding on subordinate courts. It is implicit in the power of supervision conferred on a superior Tribunal that all the Tribunals subject to its supervision should conform to the law laid down by it. Such obedience would also be conducive to their smooth working ; otherwise, there would be confusion in the administration of law and respect for law would irretrievably suffer. In view of this clear pronouncement of the Supreme Court, it is not controverted by Mr. Joshi on behalf, of the revenue that an Income-tax Tribunal sitting at Madras is bound to proceed on the footing that section 140A(3) of the Act is non-existent in v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e question, no other High Court in the country had taken a contrary view on the question of constitutionality of section 140A(3). That being the position, it is not possible for us to take the view that the Tribunal in Bombay, when it set aside the order of penalty, went into the question of the constitutionality of that section and gave a finding that it is ultra vires following the decision of the Madras High Court. What the Tribunal really did was that in view of the law pronounced by the Madras High Court it proceeded on the footing that section 140A(3) was non-existent and so the order of penalty passed thereunder cannot be sustained. Accordingly, the question referred to us is answered in the negative, in favour of the assessee. The ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
