(1.) These two appeals arise out of two writ petitions filed by the appellant Kashiram Agarwala in the Punjab High Court, Circuit Bench, at Delhi challenging the validity of two orders passed by the Central Board of Revenue (hereinafter called 'the Board') under S.127(1) of the Income tax Act, 1961 (No. 43 of 1961) (hereinafter called 'the Act'). These two orders have been passed on the 18th January, 1963, and they have directed that the income-tax proceedings then pending against the appellant should be transferred from the Income-tax Officers 'D' Ward District IV(I), and 'F' Ward District IV(2), Calcutta, respectively to the Income-tax Officer 'E' Ward Companies District III, Calcutta. The petitioner alleged that these two orders were invalid, because before exercising its power under S. 127(1), the Board had failed to comply with a mandatory requirement prescribed by the said provision. These petitions were dismissed summarily by the High Court, and it is against these orders of summary rejection that the appellant has come to this Court by special leave.
(2.) Section 127(1) of the Act reads thus:
(3.) It is common ground that the impugned orders do not record any reasons why the Board thought it necessary to transfer the cases pending against the appellant from one Incometax Officer to the other; and the argument is that Section 127(1) imposes an obligation on the authority exercising its power under the said Section to record its reasons for directing the transfer of a case from one Income-tax Officer to another. It will be noticed that S.127(1) requires that where the power conferred by it is intended to be exercised, an opportunity should be given to the assessee wherever it is possible to do so, and reasons have to be recorded for making the order of transfer. The requirement that opportunity should be given, cannot be said to be obligatory, because it has been left to the discretion of the authority to consider whether it is possible to give such an opportunity to the assessee. It is, of course, true that in coming to the conclusion that it is not possible to give the required opportunity to the assessee, the authority must act reasonably and bona fide; but if the authority comes to the conclusion that it is not possible to give a reasonable opportunity to the assessee, that can be dispensed with. That, however, is not so with regard to the requirement that reasons must be recorded for making the transfer. So far as S. 127(1) is concerned, there is no dispute about this position.