COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX Vs. RAMDEO SACHDEO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A statement of the case has been submitted by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Patna Bench 'A', Patna, under Section 27(1) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (hereinafter to be called as "the Act"), referring the following question of law for the opinion of this court at the instance of the Department :

(2.) ON appeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner it was urged that the assessee had a share in a firm and his interest in the firm was his main wealth and that the firm's accounting year ended on March 31, 1969. The firm took some time in finalising its accounts and under the Income-tax Act the firm did not file its return before September 30, 1969, The return of the firm, in fact, was filed in January 1970, and it was only then that the assessee was able to find out the value of his interest in the partnership firm. ON these facts, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner held that the assessee had a reasonable cause for not filing the return within the specified time. He, therefore, cancelled the order of the Wealth-tax Officer. A copy of the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner has been annexed and marked as annexure 'B' forming part of the statement of the case.

(3.) THUS, according to the proviso, if the income-tax return could be filed by September 30, 1969, then the penalty for default can be only for four months, otherwise penalty for default will be for seven months. In the present case, admittedly, the income-tax return could be filed by September 30, 1969, and so if the proviso to Section 14(1) of the Act is applicable, then the Tribunal was justified in holding that the penalty can be levied only for the period of four months after September 30, 1969, which was admittedly the due date for filing the income-tax return and so the assessee could have filed wealth-tax return also by September 30, 1969.