Law: Income Tax Act, 1961

Section: 271(1)(a)

Income-tax----Penalty---Delay in filing returns-- -Firm---Partners---Assessee claiming that his main source of income was from firm---Firm filing its returns on January 21, 1984, and assessee filing his returns on July 30, 1985---No proper explanation for delay---Imposition of penalty was valid---Indian Income Tax Act, 1961, S.271(1)(a). The petitioners were partners of a registered firm. They claimed that their main source of income was their share of profits from the firm. The firms return was filed on January 21, 1984, for the assessment year 1983-84 and on January 24, 1985, for the assessment year 1984-85. The petitioners filed their return on July 30, 1985. The Inspecting Assistant Commissioner held that there was no acceptable reason for the delay between January 21, 1984 and July 30, 1985. The only reason given by the petitioners was that they had entrusted all the papers including the signed return to their chartered accountant and due to the fault of the chartered accountant the delay was occasioned. The Inspecting Assistant, Commissioner did not accept the explanation and imposed penalty under section 271(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. On writ petitions against the order: Held, dismissing the writ petitions, that except the statement that they entrusted the papers to their previous chartered accountant and due to the fault or mistake of the said chartered accountant, the filing of the return was delayed, no other material was there. It was admitted that the very same chartered accountant on the basis of the instructions given by the petitioners, filed the firms return even on January 21, 1984. It was the case of the petitioners that their major income was only the share income from the other firms. If that was so, there was no acceptable reason for not filing their returns immediately or within a reasonable time. The Inspecting Assistant Commissioner had rightly imposed the penalty and the same had been correctly confirmed by the Commissioner of Income-tax. CIT (Addl.) v. Dargapandarinath Tuljayya & Co. (1977) 107 ITR 850 (AP) ref. JUDGMENT Aggrieved against the order of the Commissioner of Income-tax, Coimbatore, the respondent herein, the…

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