Law:

Section:

Section 17(1)(a) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 - Reassessment - Non-disclosure of primary facts - In process of demolition of a part of haveli for purpose of constructing shops, assessee discovered on 13-8-1968 certain gold and silver underground -WTO reopened assessments under section 17(1)(a) for assessment years 1964-65 to 1967-68 for which returns were filed prior to discovery of silver and gold and for which assessments were complete, and WTO passed reassessment orders including value of gold and silver in assessee's total wealth - Whether reopening of assessment was not valid since it could not be said that assessee was aware of gold and silver at time of reopening of assessment - Held, yes Facts The assessee was a HUF consisting of 'G' his adoptive mother and his wife and children. Originally there was a joint HUF constituted by two brothers, which in the year 1930 had purchased silver weighing about 430 kgs. and kept the same in the family's haveli. As a result of partition in 1938, between them, the haveli came to the share of 'B'. After his death, his widow adopted 'G' a minor at that time. On 13-8-1968, 'G' while demolishing a part of the haveli for the purpose of constructing shops, found the silver buried thereunder and also 25 gold pasas in an arch. The Suprintendent of Central Excise, who made discreet enquiries, ultimately released the gold and silver, seized earlier to the assessee after recording a finding that the gold was more than 100 years old, and that neither the assessee nor any other family member was aware of this gold. The silver was released on the short ground that it was not imported into India in contravention of the prohibition imposed by law. The wealth-tax returns for the assessment years 1964-65 to 1967-68 had been filed and their assessment completed, prior to the aforesaid discovery of silver and gold. Later, the WTO reopened the assessments for all the years and passed orders wherein he included the value of gold and silver for assessing the assessee's total wealth. The Tribunal held that on merits the assumption of jurisdiction by the WTO under section 17(1)(a) could not be challenged inasmuch as in the set of circumstances…

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