Glimpses of Supreme Court Rulings

57 Mangalam Publications, Kottayam vs. Commissioner of Income Tax, Kottayam

Civil Appeal Nos. 8580-8582 of 2011

Decided On: 23rd January, 2024

Reassessment — No reason to believe - Dehors the provisional balance sheet for the assessment year 1989-90 submitted before the South Indian Bank for obtaining credit (which was considered to be unreliable by CIT(A) in the earlier year), there were no other material in the possession of the Assessing Officer to come to the conclusion that income of the Assessee for the three assessment years had escaped assessment — The assessment cannot be reopened on a mere change of opinion in as much as the original assessment orders were passed after due scrutiny.

Defective return of income — A defective return cannot be regarded as an invalid return — The Assessing Officer has the discretion to intimate the Assessee about the defect(s) and it is only when the defect(s) are not rectified within the specified period that the Assessing Officer may treat the return as an invalid return. Ascertaining the defects and intimating the same to the Assessee for rectification, are within the realm of discretion of the Assessing Officer — It is for him to exercise the discretion — The burden is o