COMUNIDADE OF CHICALIM Vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present petitioner, the Comunidade of Chicalim, filed this petition to challenge a notice issued under S. 148 of the IT Act, 1961, (the "IT Act" for short), dt. 18th March, 1991, bearing No. O.21/W1 (Annexure P 4) and by an interim order further proceedings pursuant to the notice were stayed.

(2.) THE ITO, Ward No. 1, Margao, Goa, has issued the above notice on the grounds that he has a reason to believe that the petitioner's income in the status of body of individual (BOI) chargeable to tax for the asst. year 1986 87, has escaped assessment, within the meaning of S. 147 of the IT Act, 1961, and that, therefore, he proposes to reassess the petitioner's income for the said assessment year. He has required the petitioner to deliver to him a return in the prescribed form, of the petitioner's income for the said asst. year 1986 87.

(3.) ON being noticed, the respondents appeared and filed their affidavit in reply, making a bald averment therein to the effect that specific reasons for adopting the status of BOI as against AOP are recorded in the order sheet. However, no copy of the order sheet has been produced along with the affidavit in reply. No reasons for issuing notice under S. 148 of the IT Act are to be found in the counter affidavit. No copy of the reasons alleged to have been recorded is produced on record, in spite of specific assertion made in the petition that no such reasons existed, and/or no reasons were recorded before directing notice under S. 148 of the IT Act. Apart from the stray averments in the affidavit in reply, no other material has been placed on record in support of the notice under s. 148 of the IT Act.