Law: Constitution of India

Section: 226, 227

Law: Income Tax Act, 1922

Section: 33-A(2).

Income-tax-Revision-By Commissioner - Whether personal hearing to be given-Petitions under Art. 227 of the Constitution Nature of Jurisdiction-When relief can be granted-Constitution of India, Arts. 226 & 227-Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, S. 33-A(2). Before passing orders under section 33-A(2), the Commissioner of Income-tax did not give the assessee a personal hearing as desired by him. The petitioner filed petitions under Article 227 of the Constitution to revise those orders. The High Court treated the petitions as under Article 226 of the Constitu tion and quashed the orders giving liberty to the Commissioner to dispose of the matters afresh after giving a personal hearing to the assessee. The jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution is a very extraordinary and supervisory one and is to be resorted to very sparingly and not as a substitute for revisional jurisdiction. It is not available where subordinate authorities in discharge of their judicial or quasi-judicial functions act within their jurisdiction but make otherwise erroneous orders. Even errors, of jurisdiction may not normally be within the purview of Article 227 of the Constitution. Dwarka Nath v. Income-tax Officer (1965) 57 I T R 349 (S C) ref.                                                                                                               JUDGMENT VEERASWAMI, J.----These are civil revision petitions under Article 227 of the Constitution of India. They are directed against the orders of the Commissioner of Income-tax declining to interfere under section 33-A(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, with the inclusion by the Income-tax Officer of two sums fn the total income for the assessment years 1958-59 and 1959-60. The Commissioner in so declining to interfere mentioned two reasons. One was that the petitioner himself in a letter of his dated February 25, 1961, had admitted that there would be additional…