COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX Vs. RANI SAJJAN KUMARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) LEARNED members of the Appellate Tribunal have referred the following questions of law for the opinion of this court:

(2.) BRIEF facts of the case are that Rani Sajjan Kumari (hereinafter referred to as "the assessee") was assessed to wealth-tax for the assessment year 1966-67 in the capacity of a legal representative of her late husband, Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, who had died on May 21, 1966. Since the return was not filed within the time allowed under Section 14(1) of the W.T. Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), penalty proceedings were initiated under Section 18(1)(a) of the Act and a penalty of Rs. 69,395 was levied by the WTO.

(3.) FROM the facts found established in the present case, it is clear that there was no requirement on the assessee to file the return of wealth under Sub-section (1) of Section 14 of the Act with regard to the wealth of her deceased husband and, in this view of the matter, the provisions of penalty contained under Section 18(1)(a) of the Act cannot be applied. Section 19(2) and (3) of the Act read as under :