Case Law Details
Jeetmal Choraria Vs. ACIT (ITAT Kolkata)
From the aforesaid discussion it can be seen that the line of reasoning of the Honorable Bombay High Court and the Honorable Patna High Court is that issuance of notice is an administrative device for informing the assessee about the proposal to levy penalty in order to enable him to explain as to why it should not be done. Mere mistake in the language used or mere non-striking of the inaccurate portion cannot by itself invalidate the notice. The Tribunal Benches at Mumbai and Patna being subordinate to the Hobble Bombay High Court and Patna High Court are bound to follow the aforesaid view. The Tribunal Benches at Bangalore have to follow the decision of the Honorable Karnataka High Court. As far as benches of Tribunal in other jurisdictions are concerned, there are two views on the issue, one in favor of the Assessee rendered by the Honorable Karnataka High Court in the case of Manjunatha Cotton & Ginning (supra) and other of the Honorable Bombay High Court in the case of Smt.Kaushalya. It is settled legal position that where two views are available on an issue, the view favorable to the Assessee has to be followed. We therefore prefer to follow the view expressed by the Honorable Karnataka High Court in the case of Manjunatha Cotton & Ginning (supra).
We have already observed that the show cause notice issued in the present case u/s 274 of the Act does not specify the charge against the assessee as to whether it is for concealing particulars of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars of income. The show cause notice u/s 274 of the Act does not strike out the inappropriate words. In these circumstances, we are of the view that imposition of penalty cannot be sustained. The plea of the ld. Counsel for the assessee which is based on the decisions referred to in the earlier part of this order has to be accepted. We therefore hold that imposition of penalty in the present case cannot be sustained and the same is directed to be cancelled.
FULL TEXT OF THE ITAT ORDER IS AS FOLLOWS:-
This is an appeal by the Assessee against the order dated 16.02.2016 of CIT(A)-13, Kolkata relating to A.Y. 2010-11.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
