BHAGWANDAS JAIN Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH these cases are disposed of by this common judgment as they involve for decision the same questions of law, namely :

(2.) WHETHER, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was right in law in upholding the assessment of annual letting value of house property at Rs. 18,000 ?"

(3.) IN INdian & Eastern Newspaper Society v. CIT [1979] 119 ITR 996, it has been held by their Lordships of the Supreme Court that "the opinion of an internal audit party of the INcome-tax Department on a point of law cannot be regarded as 'information' within the meaning of Section 147(b) of the INcome-tax Act, 1961, for the purpose of reopening an assessment". This decision squarely applies to the facts of the present case, where reassessment has been made under Section 147(b) for the assessment years 1969-70 to 1972-73. It is undisputed that there was no discovery of any new fact and on the same set of facts, the INcome-tax Officer after having made the initial assessment, had thereafter made reassessment only because the internal audit party was of the opinion that a different principle of law should have been applied to the same set of facts. It is clear from this decision of the Supreme Court that the opinion of the internal audit party in the present case could not constitute "information" within the meaning of Section 147(b) of the INcome-tax Act, 1961, so as to permit reassessment in exercise of that power for the assessment years 1969-70 to 1972-73. This decision of the Supreme Court has been followed in similar situations by this court in Vishwanath v. Asst. CED [1983] 139 ITR 610 (MP) and CIT v. Abhoji Rao [1985] 156 ITR 604 (MP).