Case Law Details
ITO Vs Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (ITAT Mumbai)
ITAT Mumbai held that the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) would fall under the definition of ‘state’ as per Article 12 of the Constitution of India.
Facts- The assessee Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) is constituted by Maharashtra State Government under “The Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education Act, 1997” and is an authority for regulating technical matters pertaining to diploma level education. The assessee board came into existence in 1991 and was set up as an authority to regulate matters related to diploma level technical education in the state of Maharashtra. It is observed that the assessee had not filed its return of income for the impugned year and based on the information available with the Department, the Assessing Officer (A.O. for short) also observed that the assessee was in receipt of Rs.8,16,32,238/- and time deposit of Rs.10,57,00,000/-. AO issued notice u/s. 133(6) of the Act and sought for the details relating to the assessee’s financials. AO issued notice u/s. 148 of the Act by recording reasons that the assessee board had surplus income over the expenses of Rs.39,71,85,769/- and also that the assessee has not deducted TDS u/s.194A, 194J and 194C on the impugned amount. The A.O. then passed the assessment order u/s. 143(3) r.w.s. 147 of the Act dated 12.03.2019, determining the total income at Rs.39,80,41,769/-by making various additions/disallowances.
The assessee was in appeal before the ld. CIT(A), challenging the said addition/disallowances. CIT(A) deleted the addition. Accordingly, being aggrieved, revenue preferred the present appeal.
Conclusion- The objectives of the assessee board were evident to categories it to be a ‘state’ under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and also from the criteria laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, no doubt assessee would fall within the term ‘state’ as the assessee was controlled by either the Central or State Government completely and they would also become instrumentality of the Government.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
Author Bio
