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TMI Blog1973 (5) TMI 27X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l income of Rs. 90,532. In this assessment the Income-tax Officer charged interest under section 18A(6)/18A(8), although the same was not charged in the original assessment. The assessee filed an appeal against the levy of interest. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that no appeal lay against the levy of interest under section 18A(6) and dismissed the appeal as incompetent. On second appeal, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal upheld the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax and dismissed the appeal. At the instance of the assessee, the Tribunal has referred the following question for our opinion : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the appeal was rightly dismissed as being incompetent ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ry. He can entertain appeals only against the matters mentioned in section 30. That section, so far as is material for our purposes, reads : " 30. Any assessee objecting to the amount of income assessed under section 23 or section 27, or the amount of loss computed under section 24 or the amount of tax determined under section 23 or section 27, or denying his liability to be assessed under this Act, or objecting to the cancellation by an Income-tax Officer of the registration of a firm under sub-section (4) of section 23 or to a refusal to register a firm under sub-section (4) of section 23 or section 26A, or to make a fresh assessment under section 27, or objecting to any order under sub-section (2) of section 25 or section 25A or sub-sec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... een tax, penalty and interest, as is clear from section 29, which reads : " 29. When any tax, penalty or interest is due in consequence of any order passed under or in pursuance of this Act, the Income-tax Officer shall serve upon the assessee or other person liable to pay such tax, penalty or interest a notice of demand in the prescribed form specifying the sum so payable. " There is an appeal against tax and penalty but no appeal has been provided against interest. The reason is not far to seek. When section 18A(6) was originally enacted, the levy of interest was automatic. Every assessee was liable to pay interest if the advance tax paid by him under sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 18A on the basis of his own estimate turned out to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e. The learned counsel relies upon the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of M. Chockalingam and M. Meyyappan v. Commissioner of Income-tax [1963] 48 ITR 34 (SC). In that case the Supreme Court was considering the question as to whether an assessee was entitled to a notice when the Income-tax Officer proceeded under section 35 with a view to levy penal interest, when such interest was not charged originally. The Supreme Court held that, as the addition of interest amounted to an enhancement of the assessment, a notice was necessary. While dealing with the arguments of the department that the addition of penal interest is not enhancement of assessment, as stated in the proviso to section 35, the Supreme Court observed : " We do not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be read in the context in which it occurs. The scheme of section 30 appears to be to provide an appeal first against the computation of income or loss, then against the determination of tax and finally in a case where even if there is no dispute about the computation of income or the amount of tax, the assessee disputes his liability to be assessed under the Act. This means a total denial. The denial, of course, may be either absolute or conditional but the denial must be total. A person who objects to a part of the assessment order cannot be said to deny his liability to be assessed. For instance, when a person objects to the levy of tax on agricultural income his denial is absolute. Agricultural income is not taxable under any circumstan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to spell out a right of appeal even by virtue of the clause "denying his liability to be assessed under the Act", occurring in section 30 of the Act. With respect we cannot agree with the contrary view taken by the Bombay High Court in the case of Mathura Das B. Mohta v. Commissioner of Income-tax [1965] 56 ITR 269 (Bom). It appears that the earlier decision of the Bombay High Court in the case of Keshardeo Shrinivas Morarka v. Commissioner of Income-tax [1963] 48 ITR 404 (Bom) was not brought to its notice. In that case, the Bombay High Court had considered the effect of the decisions of the Supreme Court in the case of C. A. Abraham v. Income-tax Officer [1961] 41 ITR 425 (SC) and Commissioner of Income-tax v. Bhikaji Dadabhai & Co. [196 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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