TMI Blog1974 (12) TMI 31X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g that such income was derived by him as a broker. But since no books of account had been maintained, the Income-tax Officer estimated the brokerage income at Rs. 8,000 on the basis of past records. The assessee, however, had opened an account with the Chartered Bank as far back as 1948 but from the bank's statements the Income-tax Officer could see that the account was not operated from the 1st November, 1956, to 31st May, 1960, and the balance in the account thereafter was about Rs. 500. On 30th May, 1960, the assessee had made a deposit of Rs. 30,000 in the said bank account and on the same date he drew a cheque of an equivalent amount for the alleged purpose of investing the sum of Rs. 30,000 with one Brijmohan Bangur. The Income-tax Of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... th May 1960, when it was deposited with the bank. The assessee had also stated that in 1962, his monthly expenses ranged between Rs. 250 to Rs. 300 per month over and above the sum of Rs. 1,484 which he had paid as annual insurance premium and, therefore, did not have any regular savings after 1951-52. According to the Income-tax Officer, there was absolutely no reason for keeping such huge money idle. He, therefore, came to the conclusion that the transaction of having deposited with the bank account a cheque drawn on the same date was a colourable transaction and in reality the assessee did not advance any such money out of his own savings. He, therefore, treated the same as the assessee's income from undisclosed sources. Being aggriev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ...................... to make investigations regarding the sources of the appellant's income out of which the shares sold by him on 15th November, 1959, had been purchased and take appropriate action to assess the amount in the relevant year should it be found that the investment in the said shares remains unexplained." Against the said order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner the revenue preferred an appeal before the Tribunal and contended that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner had erred in accepting an entirely new explanation regarding the sources of the sum of Rs. 20,000. Such explanation had not been offered to the Income-tax Officer. It was further stressed on behalf of the revenue that since the assessee in this case had ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... essee's income from undisclosed sources which was not unlikely in view of the earlier disclosure made by him of the concealed income amounting to as much as Rs. 42,000. We would accordingly reverse the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner and restore that of the Income-tax Officer." In the aforesaid circumstances, the following questions have been referred to this court under section 256(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 : " (1) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner fell into error in admitting the evidence at the stage of the appeal before him ? (2) Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... jurisdiction of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner is concerned, it is provided in sections 250 and 251 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which is similar to section 31 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. It is true, as was contended by counsel for the assessee, that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner has very wide powers and in the interests of justice he can make further enquiry and he can admit new ground of appeal. He can also give deductions not claimed by the assessee, as was held by this court in the case of Union Coal Co. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax. In this case counsel for the revenue also did not dispute that in certain circumstances the Appellate Assistant Commissioner had jurisdiction to admit new grounds if it was nec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ji Co. v. Commissioner of Income-tax and in the case of Karamchand v. Commissioner of Income-tax. Counsel for the revenue further contended that though the powers of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner were there but he was not competent to go into new source as has been held by the Supreme Court in the case of Commissioner of Income-tax v. Rai Bahadur Hardutroy Motilal Chamaria, counsel for the revenue further contended that when the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in the instant case had directed the Income-tax Officer to enquire whether there was any sale as suggested by the assessee and to tax the sale proceeds accordingly, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner was in fact finding out the new sources of the assessee. Therefore, it w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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