Law:

Section:

Section 220(6) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Collection and recovery of tax - When tax payable and when assessee deemed in default - Whether discretion vested in ITO under section 220(6), where assessee has preferred an appeal, which is pending, is not merely a power but a power coupled with a responsibility - Held, yes - Whether therefore ITO should take all circumstances and considerations into account that could be urged or are urged by assessee why he should be treated 'as not being in default' and then make such order as is appropriate to facts of case - Held, yes FACTS A writ petition was filed by the assessee to forbear the ITO from recovery of the tax assessed, pending disposal of the appeal before the AAC. The petition was dismissed on the ground that the jurisdiction of the ITO to proceed to collect the tax was not disputed. On appeal: HELD The discretion vested in the ITO under section 220, sub-clause (6), where the concerned assessee has preferred an appeal which is pending, is not merely a power but a power which is coupled with a responsibility. The concerned officer who has the power should take all the circumstances into account. All the considerations that could be urged or are urged by the assessee why he should be treated 'as not being in default' and then make such order as is appropriate to the facts of the case. Such a request for the exercise of the power under section 220, sub-clause (6), cannot be merely summarily rejected on the basis that the power is there with the officer but that he is not bound to exercise it. It is a power coupled with a responsibility and not merely a naked and arbitrary power. Hence, it was considered sufficient to leave it to the assessee to place before the concerned officer the grounds why the discretion should not be exercised in his favour. The instant appeal was according dismissed. Note : Decision was against the assessee. CASES REFERRED TO CIT v. Kasturi Estates (P.) Ltd. [1966] 62 ITR 578 (Mad.), Ladhuram Taparia v. B.K. Baghchi [1951] 20 ITR 51 (Cal.), Vetcha Sreeramamurthy v. ITO [1956] 30 ITR 252 (AP). JUDGMENT Anantanarayanan, Offg., CJ.-The writ petitioner instituted a proceeding in this court for…

Deprecated: trim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/digixyei/sldsystempk.com/view/master-layout/view_case.php on line 492