9.3 Though the judgement cited (supra) was given before the
introduction of amendment, wherein property transaction in cash
was included, but the basic premise of section 269SS of the Act
remains the same i.e. to deter the use of unaccounted money and
allow relief as per provisions of section 273B of the Act considering
reasonable cause. On a similar footing, the Hon'ble Gujarat High
Court in CIT Vs. Panchsheel Owners Associations (2017) 395 ITR 380
(Guj) (HC), held that "genuineness of the transaction had not been
disputed and there is reasonable cause". The Hon'ble Supreme Court
in the case of Chamundi Granites (Pvt.) ltd. (2002) (122 taxman 574)
(SC) while considering hardship caused by section 269SS of the Act
as appended to the provisions of section 273B of the Act and held
that "section 273B of the Act was also incorporated which provides
that notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of section
271D of the Act, no penalty shall be imposable on the person or the
assessee, as the case may be, for any failure referred to in the said
provisions, if he proves that there was reasonable cause for such
failure and if the assessee proves that there was reasonable cause for
failure to take a loan and otherwise than by account payee cheque,
or account payee demand draft, then the penalty may not be levied".
9.6 Section 273B starts with a non obstante clause and provides
that notwithstanding anything contained in several provisions
enumerated therein including section 271D, no penalty shall be
imposable on the person or the assessee, as the case may be, for
failure referred to in the said provisions, if he proves that there was
reasonable cause for the said failure. A clause beginning with
'notwithstanding anything' is sometimes appended to a section in the
beginning with a view to give the enacting part of the section in case
of conflict, an over-riding effect over the provision or Act mentioned
in the non obstante clause - Orient Paper & Industries Ltd. v. State
of Orissa AIR 1991 SC 672.
The true effect of the non obstante clause is that in spite of the
provision or the Act mentioned in the non obstante clause, the
enactment following it will have its full operation or that the
provisions embraced in the non obstante clause will not be an
impediment for the operation of the enactment - Smt.
Parayankandiyal Eravath Kanapravan Kalliani Amma v. K. Devi ÅIR
1996 SC 1963. Therefore, in order to bring in application of section
27 ID in the backdrop of section 273B, absence of reasonable cause,
ITA No.937/Bang/2025
Bommarabettu Madhusudhana Acharya, Bengaluru
Page 12 of 13
existence of which has to be established by the assessee, is the sine
qua non.