Law: Income Tax Act, 1961

Section: 220(6)

Income-tax----Recovery of tax---Appeal---Petition for stay of collection of tax filed before CIT (Appeals)---Meanwhile revenue recovery proceeding initiated--¬CIT on petition by assessee passing order under S.220(6) allowing payment in instalments---Order of CIT was without jurisdiction as discretion under S.220(6) can be exercised by Assessing Officer only---Stay petition before CIT (,Appeals) to be disposed of expeditiously--- Recovery proceedings to be stayed till disposal of stay petition---Indian Income Tax Act, 1961, S.220(6). The assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) with a petition for stay of recovery of the amount of tax. Later, the assessee filed before the Commissioner of Income-tax a petition purporting to be under section 220(6) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. An order was passed on the petition by the Commissioner of Income-tax directing the assessee to pay 50 per cent. of the demand and pay the balance in five equal monthly instalments. Recovery proceedings were initiated by the Revenue. The assessee filed a writ petition contending that he had filed a petition before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) requesting for an early disposal of his appeal, and that if the revenue recovery proceedings were allowed to continue without even the stay petition being disposed of it would cause irreparable damage to him: Held, that a reading of section 220(6) shows that the discretion to be exercised under the section can only be exercised by the Assessing Officer and not by the Commissioner of Income-tax. The order passed by the Commissioner of Income-tax was without jurisdiction. [The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) was directed to dispose of the stay petition expeditiously and till its disposal, the recovery proceedings were to stand stayed.] JUDGMENT The petitioner, on being assessed to income-tax for the year 1992-93 by Exh. P-2 assessment order, filed an appeal with the third respondent in Exh. P-3 on April 5, 1995, and also filed a stay petition Exh.P-3(a) for stay of the recovery of the amount of tax covered by Exh.P-2. It is now stated that the petitioner later on April 10, 1995, filed Exh. P-4 before the…

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