STATE OF ASSAM Vs. D C CHOUDHURI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These are nine connected appeals by certificate from a judgment of the High Court of Assam and Nagaland whereby nine petitions filed by the respondents under Art. 226 of the Constitution were allowed and the assessment orders made under the provisions of the Assam Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1939, hereinafter called 'Act', were quashed.

(2.) The facts may be first stated. D. C. Choudhuri and S. C. Dutt petitioners in four of the writ petitions owned the Martycherra Tea Estate in the district of Cachar which they had purchased on January 1, 1948. They sold this Estate on July 9, 1953. From January 1, 1948 to July 9, 1953 they carried on the business of cultivation, manufacture and sale of black tea at the said Estate under a partnership of which they were the sole partners. The partnership firm was served with a notice under the Income Tax Act, 1922 hereinafter called the Income-tax Act and was assessed to income-tax for the assessment year 1951-52. Appeals were filed against the assessment order before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax and the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal in which substantial reliefs were given to the assessee. After the sale of the Tea Estate these assessees ceased to have any agricultural income. The case of the assessees as laid in the writ petition was that on January 25, 1961 a letter was received by one of them from the Agricultural Income-tax Officer directing both the assessees to furnish returns of their agricultural income for the assessment years 1949-50 to 1953-54. Thereafter they received a notice of demand under Sec. 23 of the Act for payment of a certain amount as agricultural income-tax for the assessment year 1950-51. The assessment order was stated to have been made under Sec. 20 (4) of the Act. Similar orders were made and demands created with regard to the subsequent years, namely, 1951-52, 1952-53 and 1953-54. All these assessment orders were challenged by means of four petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution. Apart from other points which were raised the main objection taken was that no notice under Sec. 30 of the Act had been served at any time in respect of the assessment covered by the impugned orders. Such a notice could be served only within three years of the end of the financial year. In the absence of service of the aforesaid notice within the prescribed period the Income-tax Officer had no jurisdiction to make any assessment nor could such as assessment be made after the expiry of a period of three years from the end of each financial year.

(3.) The other set of petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution was filed by the company - The Eastern Tea Estate Private Ltd. This company owned two tea estates, the Chandana Tea Estate and the Martycherra Tea Estate. The Chandana Tea Estate was purchased from the Indian Tea and Mill Industries Limited in 1950 and the Martycherra Tea Estate was purchased from M/s. D. C. Choudhuri and S. C. Dutt on July 9, 1953. The case of the company was that no notice had been received under Section 19 (2) of the Act for the assessment years 1951-52 to 1955-56 and therefore no returns were filed. On October 9, 1959 the company received a letter from the Agricultural Income-tax Officer, Shillong asking it to submit returns in respect of Martycherra Tea Estate for the assessment year 1950-51 onwards. The company addressed a communication to the Agricultural Income-tax Officer on November 18, 1959 saying, inter alia, that no notice had been served on it under the Act previously and as it also owned the Chandana Tea Estate it proposed to submit returns for the years in respect of which it was liable under the Act. On October 19, 1959, the company received a notice under Sec. 19 (2) of the Act directing it to submit the return in respect of the previous year for Martycherra Tea Estate. In response to the notice the company submitted the return for the year ending December 31, 1958 showing the agricultural income from tea estates. A number of notices were served subsequently and there was further exchange of correspondence. It was alleged in the petitions filed by the company that a letter was received dated January 23, 1960 from the Agricultural Income-tax Officer in which it was stated that the company had failed to submit the returns for the years 1950-51 to 1958-59 and it was asked to show cause why the assessments for these years should not be completed summarily. After further exchange of correspondence the company received an assessment order dated June 19, 1961 in respect of the assessment year 1951-52 which was made under S. 20 (4) of the Act together with a notice of demand for payment of a certain amount of agricultural income-tax. Similar assessment orders were passed under Sec. 20 (4) and demands created in respect of the assessment years 1952-53, 1953-54, 1954-55 and 1955-56. All these assessments were challenged by means of five petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution. The main point raised in all these petitions was that unless individual notices under Sec. 19 (2) of the Act had been served no assessment could be made under Section 20 (4) except by way of proceedings under Sec. 30 of the Act.