INCOME TAX OFFICER Vs. SIRPUR PAPER MILLS LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE writ appeal arises out of W.P. No. 2557 of 1974. Both the writ appeal and Writ Petition No. 1541 of 1975 relate to the same assessee and the same question arises in both the cases and hence we will dispose of both of them by this common judgment.

(2.) WRIT Appeal No. 410 of 1976 arises out of assessment year 1965-66, whereas WRIT Petition No. 1541 of 1975 arises out of assessment year 1966-67. In each of these matters, the department has sought to reopen the assessments for the relevant years, i.e., assessment years 1965-66 and 1966-67, respectively, by issuing notices under Sections 147 and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. In each of these matters, the notices have been challenged by the assessee on the ground that the Income-tax Officer concerned has no jurisdiction to issue the notices, since the circumstances justifying the exercise of the power under these Sections do not exist in the instant case.

(3.) AS to what exactly is the scope of Section 147(a) has been the subject-matter of several decisions of the Supreme Court and of various High Courts. The locus classicus is the decision of the Supreme Court in Calcutta Discount Co Ltd. v. Income-tax Officer, 1961 41 ITR 191 and in that case, for the first time it was laid down that if the assessee, at the time of the original assessment, had disclosed all the primary facts, then there could not be said to be any concealment of the income and the provisions of Section 147(a) or Section 34(1)(a) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, could not be invoked.