{"id":163974,"date":"1997-01-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1997-01-12T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/smt-harbans-kaur-vs-the-commissioner-of-wealth-tax-on-13-january-1997"},"modified":"2017-01-29T05:09:24","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T23:39:24","slug":"smt-harbans-kaur-vs-the-commissioner-of-wealth-tax-on-13-january-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/smt-harbans-kaur-vs-the-commissioner-of-wealth-tax-on-13-january-1997","title":{"rendered":"Smt. Harbans Kaur vs The Commissioner Of Wealth-Tax &#8230; on 13 January, 1997"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Smt. Harbans Kaur vs The Commissioner Of Wealth-Tax &#8230; on 13 January, 1997<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: Thomas<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: B.P. Jeevan Reddy, K.T Thomas<\/div>\n<pre>           PETITIONER:\nSMT. HARBANS KAUR\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nTHE COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH-TAX JULLUNDUR\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT:\t13\/01\/1997\n\nBENCH:\nB.P. JEEVAN REDDY, K.T THOMAS\n\n\n\n\nACT:\n\n\n\nHEADNOTE:\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>     (With CA Nos. 1335-36\/81, 1337\/81 1338\/81)<br \/>\n\t\t      J U D G M E N T<br \/>\nTHOMAS J.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Appellants in  these appeals  were\t liable\t to  penalty<br \/>\nunder section 18 of the Wealth Tax Act, 1957, (for short the<br \/>\nAct&#8217;), for  failure to\tfile the  returns in  respect of the<br \/>\nassessment years 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75<br \/>\nand  1975-76.\tWhen  Parliament   amended   the   Act\t and<br \/>\nincorporated Section  18-8 by  Taxation Laws  (Amendment Act<br \/>\n1975) i.e.  Act\t 41  of\t 1975,\tappellants  in\tthese  cases<br \/>\nsubmitted wealth  tax returns  and made\t a request  for full<br \/>\nwaiver of the penalty as envisaged in the new provision. The<br \/>\nCommissioner of\t Wealth Tax  (the `Commissioner&#8217;  for short)<br \/>\nfound  that   as  the  appellants  have\t complied  with\t the<br \/>\nconditions stipulated  in section  18-8 of  the Act they are<br \/>\nentitled to  the benefit  of  the  new\tprovision.  However,<br \/>\nkeeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the<br \/>\nCommissioner,  instead\tof  granting  waiver  for  the\tfull<br \/>\npenalty\t had   only  reduced  it  to  5%  for  the  relevant<br \/>\nassessment years. Appellants submitted that once a person is<br \/>\nfound to be entitled to the benefits of the new provision of<br \/>\nsection 18-B of the Act, the Commissioner should have waived<br \/>\nthe  entire   amount  of  penalty  payable  by\tthat  person<br \/>\nconcerned. So  saying they  approached\tthe  High  Court  by<br \/>\nfiling\twrit   petitions  but\tthose  writ  petitions\twere<br \/>\ndismissed in limine. Hence, these appeals.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Learned counsel  contended that  once a person is found<br \/>\nentitled to  the benefit under section 18B, the Commissioner<br \/>\ncannot withdraw part of the benefit by imposing a penalty of<br \/>\n5 per  cent. According to him, once the failure is condoned,<br \/>\npower to  waive cannot be exercised in a truncated manner as<br \/>\nwas done in this case but only in a full measure.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Section 18(1)  empowers the  officer under\t the Act  to<br \/>\nimpose penalty\ton a person in certain contingencies. As per<br \/>\nthe  sub-section   if  the  Wealth  Tax\t Officer,  Appellate<br \/>\nAssistant Commissioner\tor Appellate  Tribunal in the course<br \/>\nof any\tproceedings under  the Act  is\tsatisfied  that\t any<br \/>\nperson has,  without reasonable cause, failed to furnish the<br \/>\nreturns which  he is  required to  furnish  or\thas  without<br \/>\nreasonable cause  failed to  furnish within the time allowed<br \/>\nor without  reasonable cause  failed to comply with a notice<br \/>\nunder  section\t 16  (2)   or  (4),  or\t has  concealed\t the<br \/>\nparticulars  of\t  any\tassets\t or   furnished\t  inaccurate<br \/>\nparticulars of\tany assets  or debts such officer may direct<br \/>\nthat such  person shall\t pay, by  way of penalty, the amount<br \/>\nspecified respectively in three clauses set out therein.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Section 18-8  confers  power  on  the  Commissioner  to<br \/>\nreduce or waive such penalty in certain contingencies, if he<br \/>\nis satisfied  that  such  person  has  made  full  and\ttrue<br \/>\ndisclosure of  his net wealth and has also cooperated in any<br \/>\nequity relating\t to the assessment of his net wealth and has<br \/>\neither paid or made satisfactory arrangement for the payment<br \/>\nof any\ttax or\tinterest payable  in consequence of an order<br \/>\npassed under the Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>     If\t the   conditions  stipulated  in  the\tsection\t are<br \/>\nsatisfied Commissioner\thas a  discretion in  the matter. In<br \/>\nexercise of  that discretion, Commissioner can either reduce<br \/>\nthe amount  of the  penalty or\the may even waive the entire<br \/>\npenalty. It  is for  the Commissioner to decide on the facts<br \/>\nof a  particular case  whether a  waiver in  entirety  or  a<br \/>\nreduction alone is warranted.\n<\/p>\n<p>     The   words    &#8220;the    Commissioner    may\t   in\t his<br \/>\ndiscretion&#8230;&#8230;reduce or  waive the  amount of\t penalty&#8221; in<br \/>\nSection 18-8  of the  Act are  clear enough to show that the<br \/>\npower conferred\t on the\t Commissioner is  to be exercised by<br \/>\nhis in\tsuch manner  as he  deems just\tand proper.  When  a<br \/>\ndiscretion is  conferred on  an authority  the same  must be<br \/>\nexercised  fairly   and\t not   arbitrarily,  justly  ad\t not<br \/>\nfancifully vide\t S.G. Jaisinghani  vs. U.O.I.  &amp; others: AIR<br \/>\n1967 SC 1427.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Even if  the legislature has not used the words &#8220;in his<br \/>\ndiscretion&#8221; in\tSection\t 18(B)(1)  Commissioner\t could\thave<br \/>\nexercised  only\t  a  discretionary  power  in  view  of\t the<br \/>\nemployment of  the word\t &#8220;may&#8221;. Now when the Parliament used<br \/>\nboth expressions &#8220;may&#8221; and &#8220;in his discretion&#8221; together, the<br \/>\nposition is  placed  beyond  the  pale\tof  any\t doubt\tthat<br \/>\nlegislature  wanted   an  officer   of\tthe   rank  of\t the<br \/>\nCommissioner to\t be reposed  with the discretionary power to<br \/>\nchoose between entire waiver or reduction in any proportion.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Of course\twhen the  Commissioner, instead\t of giving a<br \/>\ncomplete waiver,  chooses to  give only\t a reduction for the<br \/>\npenalty amount\the must\t indicate in  his order\t that he has<br \/>\napplied his  mind in  that regard. In this view, there is no<br \/>\nwarrant\t for  the  proposition\tthat  the  Commissioner,  if<br \/>\nsatisfied of  the compliance  of conditions,  has  only\t one<br \/>\nchoice i.e.  to waive the penalty in entirety. Otherwise, it<br \/>\nmay mean  that Commissioner  can in  a case where conditions<br \/>\nare  not   satisfied,  reduce\tthe  penalty   amount.\tWhen<br \/>\nconditions are not satisfied, Commissioner cannot do either.<br \/>\nOnly  when  the\t said  conditions  are\tsatisfied  that\t the<br \/>\noccasion  arises   for\tthe  Commissioner  to  exercise\t his<br \/>\ndiscretion &#8211; not before.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Learned counsel  has cited\t the following\tdecisions of<br \/>\nvarious High Courts in support of the contention that waiver<br \/>\nin full\t has to\t be ordered when all the required conditions<br \/>\nhave been  complied with: Shakuntla Mehra vs. CWT (1976) 102<br \/>\nITR 301\t of the\t Delhi High  Court; Shankara  Apya Swami vs.<br \/>\nWTO, Belgaum  (1976) 103  ITR 649,  of\tthe  Karnataka\tHigh<br \/>\nCourt; Anjanappa vs. CWT (1980) 124 ITR 433 of the Karnataka<br \/>\nHigh Court;  Rasiklal Ranchhodbhai  Patel vs. CWT (1980) 121<br \/>\nITR 219\t of the\t Gujarat High  Court Sardar Kartar Singh vs.<br \/>\nCWT (1982)  135 ITR  375 of  the Gaughati High Court. In all<br \/>\nthose decisions learned Judges have pointed out that without<br \/>\nindicating any\treason whatsoever  the\tCommissioner  cannot<br \/>\ndispense with  his discretion  in  granting  waiver  of\t the<br \/>\npenalty. Those\tdecisions have\tnot laid  down a proposition<br \/>\nthat the  only course  which a\tCommissioner  can  adopt  on<br \/>\nfulfillment of\tthe conditions\tis to  waive the  penalty in<br \/>\nentirety.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Section 18-8  is analogous\t to  section  273-A  of\t the<br \/>\nIncome Tax  Act, 1961  where under also a similar discretion<br \/>\nhas been  conferred on\tthe Commissioner  of Income  Tax for<br \/>\neither reducing the penalty or granting waiver of the entire<br \/>\npenalty. It  is understood  in clear  terms  that  the\tsaid<br \/>\ndiscretion in  Income Tax  Act\tis  to\tbe  exercised  in  a<br \/>\nreasonable and\tfair manner. The decision of the Bombay High<br \/>\nCourt [Purshottam Thackersey vs. K.N. Anantrama Ayyar (1985)<br \/>\n154 ITR\t 438] cited  before us\tonly shows that the order of<br \/>\nthe Commissioner  declining to\twaive  the  penalty  without<br \/>\nadvancing any  reason whatsoever cannot be supported and the<br \/>\nmatter was remitted to the Commissioner for passing an order<br \/>\nafresh.\n<\/p>\n<p>     In the  cases on  hand, the  Commissioner has indicated<br \/>\nhis own\t reasons for  resorting to the power of reduction of<br \/>\nthe penalty  in preference  to granting\t full waiver  of the<br \/>\npenalty. We  cannot say\t that the  reasons indicated  in the<br \/>\norders\tare   in  any\tmanner\tunjust\tor  irrelevant.\t We,<br \/>\ntherefore, find\t no ground  to interfere  with the  impugned<br \/>\norder and  the judgments  of the High Court. The appeals are<br \/>\ndismissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Smt. Harbans Kaur vs The Commissioner Of Wealth-Tax &#8230; on 13 January, 1997 Author: Thomas Bench: B.P. Jeevan Reddy, K.T Thomas PETITIONER: SMT. HARBANS KAUR Vs. RESPONDENT: THE COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH-TAX JULLUNDUR DATE OF JUDGMENT: 13\/01\/1997 BENCH: B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, K.T THOMAS ACT: HEADNOTE: JUDGMENT: (With CA Nos. 1335-36\/81, 1337\/81 1338\/81) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Smt. 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