Commissioner of Wealth-tax Vs. Mohd. Sabir, - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
- indian penal code, 1890.section 306 :[dalveer bhandari & harjit singh bedi,jj] abetment of suicide deceased, a married woman, committed suicide - allegation of abetment of suicide against appellant husband and in-laws - ocular evidence was sketchy - dying declaration recorded by tahsildar completely exonerated all accused in-laws of any misconduct dispelling any suspicion as to their involvement - letter of threat allegedly written by appellant to father of victim was concocted piece of evidence held, though presumption against appellant can be raised, it cannot be said that onus shifts exclusively and heavily on him to prove his innocence. conviction of appellant is liable to be set aside. - the wealth-tax officer noticed that in the firm's account provision for huge amounts was made in respect of liabilities under various heads like bonus, annual leave wages, etc. ' if on application made under the aforesaid provision, the appellate tribunal refuses to state a case on the ground that no question of law arises, the aggrieved applicant may apply to this court and this court may if it is not satisfied with the correctness of the decision of the appellate tribunal, require the appellate tribunal to state the case to the high court and on receipt of such requisition, the appellate tribunal shall state the case. 11. it is thus luculent that this court can accept the prayer only when it is satisfied that the case involves any question of law arising out of the relevant order and when it is not satisfied with the correctness of the decision of the appellate tribunal, as noted above. we find that the order of the tribunal is based on appreciation of facts and thus rests on a finding of fact giving rise to no question of law and we are satisfied with the correctness of the decision of the appellate tribunal.a.r. tiwari, j.1. these reference applications are filed by the commissioner of wealth-tax, bhopal, under section 27(3) of the wealth-tax act, 1957 (for short, 'the act'), seeking reference of a common question as extracted below :'whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the income-tax appellate tribunal was justified in holding that there was no concealment of wealth on the part of the assessee ?'the facts lie in a narrow compass.2. the assessees are the partners of the firm bearing the name and style of kalekhan mohd. hanif, bhopal. at the time of wealth-tax assessment for 1977-78, the assessing officer observed that there was a provision of huge amount in respect of the liabilities under various heads in the account of the firm. he, therefore, made an addition to the extent of the assessee's share in respect of liabilities in the case of the firm. the wealth-tax officer also ordered levy of penalty under section 18(1)(c) of the act. this was cancelled by the commissioner of wealth-tax (appeals). the income-tax appellate tribunal dismissed the appeals of the department holding that the assessees had disclosed full facts and particulars before the assessing officer and there was no case of concealment. the department thereafter filed an application under section 27 of the act before the appellate tribunal seeking reference of the question of law, as noted above, to this court for opinion. that application was rejected on november 30, 1990. the department (commissioner of wealth-tax) has thereafter filed these reference applications.3. after hearing on the question of admission, this court directed issuance of notice to the non-applicants.4. we have heard shri d.d. vyas, learned counsel for the commissioner of wealth-tax, and shri s.k. jain, learned counsel for the assessees.5. shri vyas submitted that the tribunal may be directed to state the case and refer the aforesaid question of law to this court for opinion. shri jain, on the other hand, submitted that the cases do not involve any question of law and as such the reference applications deserve to be dismissed.6. it is noticed that the assessees were partners of the aforesaid firm. in the returns of their individual wealth they showed the value of their respective shares in the assets of the said partnership firm. the wealth-tax officer noticed that in the firm's account provision for huge amounts was made in respect of liabilities under various heads like bonus, annual leave wages, etc., which were accumulated over the years. he disallowed the said liabilities. eventually, he concluded that there was concealment of wealth. the tribunal, on appreciation of evidence on record, reached the conclusion that it could not be treated as concealment of wealth. whether wealth is concealed or not is primarily a question of fact. the tribunal evaluated the evidence placed on record and concluded that there was no concealment of wealth. this finding is not shown to be perverse or erroneous.7. in cit v. ashoka marketing ltd. : [1976]103itr543(sc) and in cit v. kotrika venkataswamy and sons : [1971]79itr499(sc) , it is held that when the tribunal reached the conclusion that there was no case of concealment, then such a finding is one of fact and did not give rise to any question of law to be referred and answered.8. we have perused the material placed on record of these cases and find that the tribunal recorded the finding of absence of concealment of wealth on appreciation of the evidence. the finding is on firm foundation giving rise to no question of law.9. the question as proposed is thus no question of law stricto sensu. it is a pure finding of fact. accordingly, no referable question of law arises in the instant cases. the legal position may also be noticed.10. section 27(1) of the act provides as under :'27. reference to high court.--(1) the assessee or the chief commissioner or commissioner may, within sixty days of the date upon which he is served with notice of an order under section 24, or section 26, by application in the prescribed form, accompanied, where the application is made by the assessee, by a fee of two hundred rupees, require the appellate tribunal to refer to the high court any question of law arising out of such order and, subject to the other provisions contained in this section, the appellate tribunal shall, within one hundred and twenty days of the receipt of such application, draw up a statement of the case and refer it to the high court.'if on application made under the aforesaid provision, the appellate tribunal refuses to state a case on the ground that no question of law arises, the aggrieved applicant may apply to this court and this court may if it is not satisfied with the correctness of the decision of the appellate tribunal, require the appellate tribunal to state the case to the high court and on receipt of such requisition, the appellate tribunal shall state the case.11. it is thus luculent that this court can accept the prayer only when it is satisfied that the case involves any question of law arising out of the relevant order and when it is not satisfied with the correctness of the decision of the appellate tribunal, as noted above. we find that the order of the tribunal is based on appreciation of facts and thus rests on a finding of fact giving rise to no question of law and we are satisfied with the correctness of the decision of the appellate tribunal. this being so, these reference applications are manifestly acarpous and should, therefore, deserve the fate of dismissal.12. in the circumstances, we decline to pass the order in terms of section 27(3) of the act as prayed and dismiss all these applications but without any order as to costs.13. this order shall be retained in miscellaneous civil case no. 54 of 1991 and its true copy each shall be placed in the record of connected miscellaneous civil cases as particularised above.