Sri Subhash Chand Jain v. Commissioner Of Income Tax, Xv,Kolkata

OD-13 ITA/135/2012 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTASpecial Jurisdiction (Income Tax)ORIGINAL SIDE SRI SUBHASH CHAND JAIN -Versus- COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, XV,KOLKATA Appearance:Mr. Devanand Mishra, Adv.Mr. Prashant Kumar Singh, Adv....for the appellant.Mr. S. N. Dutta, Adv....for the respondent. BEFORE: The Hon’ble JUSTICE T.S. SIVAGNANAM -And- The Hon’ble JUSTICE HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA Date : 20[th] January, 2022. The Court : This appeal filed by the assessee underSection 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the ‘Act’ in brevity) isdirected challenging the order dated 22[nd] June, 2012 passed by theIncome Tax Appellate Tribunal, “B” Bench, Kolkata (the ‘Tribunal’in short) in ITA/07/Kol/2011 for the assessment year 2005-06. The appeal was admitted on 4[th] December, 2012 to decidethe following substantial questions of law: (i)Whether on a true and proper interpretation of theprovision of Section 194C of the Income Tax Act,1961 prior to its amendment with effect from June1, 2007 there was any obligation upon the assessee to deduct tax at source from payment ofRs.29,05,628/- made to 17 individuals towardslabour charges ? (ii)Whether the findings arrived at by the Tribunalthat the 17 individuals to whom payments were madewere sub-contractors and that the provisions ofsub-Section (2) of Section 194C of the Income TaxAct, 1961 were applicable are perverse ?that the 17 individuals to whom payments were madewere sub-contractors and that the provisions ofsub-Section (2) of Section 194C of the Income TaxAct, 1961 were applicable are perverse ? (iii)Whether and in any event, on a true and properinterpretation of the provisions of Section49(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as in forcefor the assessment year 2005-06, the said sectionwas applicable only in respect of amountsremaining payable at the end of the previous yearand no disallowance could be made in respect ofamounts paid during the previous year, even if notax was deducted at source ?interpretation of the provisions of Section49(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as in forcefor the assessment year 2005-06, the said sectionwas applicable only in respect of amountsremaining payable at the end of the previous yearand no disallowance could be made in respect ofamounts paid during the previous year, even if notax was deducted at source ? The above appeal was listed before us yesterday (19[th] January, 2022). Since none appeared for the appellant, we hadrequested the learned counsel who were available during thehearing to inform the counsel who had appeared for the appellantat the time of admission. Today Mr. D. N. Mishra, learned counsel has appearedbefore us and submitted that Mr. V. N. Mishra, advocate wasappearing in the matter and his client has instructed them toreturn all the cause papers which were returned to the appellantwho has acknowledged the same on 31[st] July, 2021 to the saideffect, copy of the letter addressed by the counsel for the appellant to the appellant has been produced before us which isplaced on record. We have heard Mr. S. N. Dutta learned counsel for therespondent. Since the appellant has not made any arrangementafter taking back the cause papers, we are left with no option butto dismiss the appeal (ITA/135/2012) for non-prosecution. (T.S. SIVAGNANAM, J.) (HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, J.) S.Das