Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987

The Supreme Court considered appeals by a partnership firm, Sasi Enterprises, and its partners who were prosecuted under section 276CC of the Income Tax Act for willfully failing to file income‑tax returns for the assessment years 1991‑92, 1992‑93 and 1993‑94. The issues raised were whether a statutory duty to file ret…

M/s Mangalam Publications, a partnership engaged in publishing, filed returns for assessment years 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93 without regular books of account, citing seizure of records. The assessing officer later compared a balance sheet submitted to a bank in 1989-90 with a later balance sheet for 1993-94 and conc…

The Supreme Court examined whether the term "change of opinion" in Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was eliminated after the 1 April 1989 amendment. The Court traced the evolution of Section 147 from its original wording, through the 1987 amendment that introduced "opinion", to the 1989 amendment that reinstated…

The Commissioner of Income Tax, Rajkot appealed against M/s Gujarat Siddhi Cement Ltd.'s claim of an investment allowance for additional costs incurred on plant and machinery due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations for the assessment year 1993-94. The assessing officer disallowed the claim, holding that the assets we…

The petitioners, Group‑A Income‑Tax officers promoted from Group‑B, challenged the 1973 Seniority Rules and the accompanying seniority list, alleging that the rules were based on a mistaken finding that promotions exceeded the statutory quota and that the classification of officers into Group‑A and Group‑B violated Art…

The Commissioner of Income‑Tax appealed against a High Court order that had directed the revenue to pay interest under Section 244(1) of the Income‑Tax Act to Chittor Electric Supply Corporation, which had received a refund after a fresh assessment was made in 1973. The original assessment of 1966 was set aside by an A…

The assessee, M/s Mafatlal Gangabhai & Co. (P) Ltd., paid cash amounts to its employees as house‑rent allowance, conveyance allowance and medical reimbursement and claimed these as deductions. The Income Tax Officer disallowed the deductions, treating the cash payments as perquisites under Section 40(a)(v) and Section …

K.M. Sharma received compensation and interest for land acquired under the Land Acquisition Act. The Income Tax Department issued reassessment notices under Section 148 for assessment years 1968-69 to 1971-72 and 1981-82, alleging tax on the interest received. Sharma contended that the reassessments were barred by the …