COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX Vs. CHHAGAN LAL GUPTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Revenue, by this application made under s. 27(3) of the WT Act, has prayed that the Tribunal, Jaipur Bench, Jaipur, may be directed to state the case and refer the following question of law for the opinion of the High Court :

(2.) The assessee and Bhanwar Lal Gupta, Vidhyasagar Gupta and Sunder Lal Gupta are the co-owners of the factory called Jindal General Manufacturing Company situated at C-92, Wazirpur Industrial Area, Delhi. The assessee filed the return under the WT Act for various years. The WTO accepted the total value of the suit property at Rs. 36,54,000 in each of the years under consideration on the basis of the report of the DVO. Dissatisfied with the order passed by the Assessing Officer, assessing the assessee on a higher value, the assessee preferred an appeal before the CWT(A). The appeal filed by the assessee was decided by the Dy. CWT(A) by a common order and the appeal filed by the assessee was partly allowed. The assessee, aggrieved with the order passed by the Dy. CWT(A), filed an appeal before the Tribunal, Jaipur Bench, Jaipur and the Tribunal, by its order dt. 12th Sept., 1994 allowed the appeal filed by the assessee and remanded the case to the assessing authority to reassess the assessee and determine the value of the property as per the amended rules contained in Schedule III of the Act. The Revenue thereafter moved an application under s. 27(1) of the Act to refer the above question of law for the opinion of the High Court. The Tribunal, by its order dt. 5th July, 1995 dismissed the application under s. 27(1) of the Act filed by the Revenue by a common order and refused to refer the question mentioned in the application because the question of law, which is sought to be referred by the Revenue, already stands decided by the judgment of the Supreme Court and as such no referable question of law arises fit for reference to the High Court.

(3.) It is contended by the learned counsel for the Revenue that when the assessment had already been completed before 1st April, 1989, the valuation of the property, as per Schedule III of the Act, could not have been made under Schedule III of the Act. The Schedule III of the Act came into force w.e.f. 1st April, 1989 and, therefore, the schedule III can be applied for the valuation purposes only with respect to the proceedings which were pending before the assessing authority on or after 1st April, 1989 and not on the proceedings which have been competed before this date.