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1 Assessment —
Intimation u/s.143(1)(a) — Effect of amendment of S. 143(1A) by Finance Act,
1993 — Whether retrospective in case of reduction of loss ? — Matter remanded to
the High Court.
[CIT v. Ashok Paper Mills,
(2009) 315 ITR 426 (SC)]
In an appeal against the
decision of the learned Single Judge passed in the writ petitions, the Division
Bench of the Gauhati High Court (250 ITR 673) found that there was no challenge
to the decision of the learned Single Judge about the constitutional validity of
the provisions of Ss.(1A) of S. 143 of the Act and therefore it was only
required to deal with the second limb of the order related to the
retrospectivity of the provisions of the aforesaid sub-section substituted by
the Finance Act, 1993.
The Division Bench of the High
Court, referring to the decisions of the Supreme Court in CIT v. Hindustan
Electro Graphites Ltd., (2000) 243 ITR 48 and in ACIT v. J. K. Synthetics
Ltd., (2001) 251 ITR 200, held that the Act or omission for which no
income-tax was payable as per law in force at a given time, could not be
subjected to additional tax with retrospective
effect and thus dismissed the appeal.
In an SLP filed in a connected
tax reference which was decided following the above decision of the Gauhati High
Court, the Supreme Court remanded the matter to the High Court for considering
it afresh in the light of its judgment in
ACIT v. J. K. Synthetics Ltd. (supra).
