Commissioner Of Income-Tax, Bombay ... vs Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. on 12 March, 1970
19. Now, in our case the Income-tax Officer had the power to proceed under the first proviso of the section 10 (5) (a). He, however, did not exercise it. It is a case of non-exercise of power. The judgment of the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Income-tax v. McMillan and Co. shows that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner has the power to interfere to correct non-exercise of a power by the Income-tax Officer, although the latter has such power. If the Appellate Assistant Commissioner is of the opinion that the record and the facts and circumstances of a case are such as would require him to exercise the power, as was in fact done by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner in the above case before the Supreme Court; but if he feels that something more is required to be done before he can exercise the power which the Income-tax Officer had, but did not exercise, the Appellate Assistant Commissioner may set aside the order of the Income-tax Officer and direct him to proceed further in the matter according to law. As thins is the extent of the power of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner as revealed by the above judgment of the Supreme Court, we reject the third point made by Mr. Dastur. Its acceptance would curtail the ambit of the power of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner as shown in the above judgment of the Supreme Court. As a matter of fact, the third point of Mr. Dastur cannot even arise as the Appellate Assistant Commissioner does, on the basis of the above judgment of the Supreme Court, have the power to make the order which he made and the basis of Mr. Dastur's argument that the Appellate Assistant Commissioner cannot do indirectly what he could not do directly is knocked out as the Appellate Assistant Commissioner did have such power.