Delhi High Court
Ras Bihari Bansal, Prop. Bansal And Co. vs The Commissioenr Of Income Tax ... on 30 April, 2007
Equivalent citations: 140(2007)DLT630, [2007]293ITR365(DELHI)
Author: V.B. Gupta
Bench: Madan B. Lokur, V.B. Gupta
JUDGMENT V.B. Gupta, J.
Page 1328
1. Present appeal has been filed by the Appellant under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961(hereinafter referred to as 'Act') against the impugned order dated 20th May, 2005 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as 'Tribunal') in Misc. Application No. 427/D/04 (in ITA No. 2960to 2961/D/99 and C.O. No. 235 and 236/Del/2003) for the assessment year 1988-89 and 1989-90, vide which application under Section 254(2) of the Act was dismissed.
2. The assessment order in this case was passed by the Assessing officer on 30th March, 1998 assessing the taxable income of assessed as Rs. 11,65,290/-.
3. Being dissatisfied with the assessment order, the assessed filed appeals before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) who vide order dated 16th March, 1999, partly allowed the appeals filed by the assessed.
4. Against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeals), Revenue filed appeals for both the assessment years whereas, the assessed filed cross-objections. Vide order dated 12th January, 2004, the Tribunal dismissed the appeals filed by the Revenue and partly allowed the cross-objections filed by the assessed.
5. Thereafter, an application under Section 254(2) of the Act was filed by the assessed and vide impugned order that application was dismissed. The assessed then filed a writ petition being W.P. (C) No. 466/2006, Ras Bihari Bansal v. Commissioner of Income Tax and Anr. in this Court, but the same was dismissed as withdrawn with liberty granted to the assessed to seek such other remedy as may be available to him under the law.
6. Being aggrieved against the impugned order, the assessed has filed the present appeal.
7. The question to be seen here in this case is as to whether the present appeal is at all maintainable or not. As per grounds of appeal, the assessed has challenged the findings of the Tribunal relating to the addition made on account of gross profits @ 5% based on commission earned on sale of pipes different from steel items; that the purchases made by M/s.Jyoti Steel Enterprises from the assessed were not genuine.
Page 1329
8. It shows that the assessed by way of present appeal has challenged the findings of the Tribunal in the assessment proceedings as decided on 12th January, 2004, which is also apparent from the prayer made in the present appeal that this Court may set aside/vary/modify the impugned order dated 20th May, 2005 passed by the Tribunal under Section 254(2) of the Act in Misc. application read with order dated 12th January, 2004 passed by the Tribunal under Section 254(1) of the Act.
9. The relevant Section for the purpose of disposal of present appeal is Section 254(2) of the Act, which reads as under:
Section 254(1) xxx xxx xxx 254(2). The Appellate Tribunal may, at any time within four years from the date of the order, with a view to rectifying any mistake apparent from the record, amend any order passed by it under Sub-section (1), and shall make such amendment if the mistake is brought to its notice by the assessed or the Assessing Officer.
Provided xxx xxx xxx
10. This section enables the concerned authorities to rectify any "mistake apparent from the record". It is well settled that an oversight of a fact cannot constitute an apparent mistake rectifiable under this Section. Similarly, failure of the Tribunal to consider an argument advanced by either party for arriving at a conclusion, is not an error apparent on the record, although it may be an error of judgment. The mere fact that the Tribunal has not allowed a deduction, even if the conclusion is wrong, that will be no ground for moving an application under Section 254(2) of the Act. Further, in garb of application for rectification, the assessed cannot be allowed to be permitted to reopen and re-argue the whole matter, which is beyond the scope of this Section.
11. In a decision of this Court in Deeksha Suri v. Income Tax Appellate Tribunal while discussing the scope of Section 254(2) of the Act, it has been observed that:
The foundation for exercising the rectification jurisdiction is "with a view to rectify any mistake apparent on the record" and the object is achieved by "amending any order passed by it". The power so conferred does not contemplate a rehearing which would have the effect of re-writing an order affecting the merits of the case. Else there would be no distinction between a power to review and a power to rectify a mistake. What is not permitted to be done by the statute having deliberately omitted to confer review jurisdiction on the Tribunal, cannot be indirectly achieved by recourse to Section 254(2) of the Act.
12. In the present case, according to the assessed an error has crept in the order of the Tribunal whereby his cross-objections relating to addition made on account of gross profit ratio @ 5% has been disposed of and the Tribunal has not given attention to the evidence submitted by him Page 1330
13. The Tribunal vide impugned order has observed as under:
We have heard the assessed and also the Departmental Representative with respect to the impugned application and proceed to dispose of the issue on the following lines. It is found that in para 8 of the order of the Tribunal, a reference has been made to the dealings in special steel being carried out by the assessed and also the market condition of special steel industry. It is also noteworthy that the Tribunal in para 9 of its order has opined that the assessed has not given any cogent material to take a view contrary to that of the lower authorities. Be that as it may, the impugned application is misconceived inasmuch as what it seeks the Tribunal to do is to re-appreciate the material and evidence already on record, which is clearly contrary to Section 254(2) of the Act. Therefore, having regard to the limited powers of the Tribunal in terms of Section 254(2), the impugned application cannot be entertained.
14. The assessed in the garb of application for rectification has sought to reopen and re-argue the whole matter, which is beyond the scope of Section 254(2) of the Act and this is also the finding of the Tribunal.
15. We do not find any reason to disagree with the findings given by the Tribunal on this aspect and the present appeal filed by the Appellant is wholly misconceived and is without any basis and we find no infirmity in the impugned order passed by the Tribunal.
16. Accordingly the present appeal filed by the assessed is, hereby, dismissed.