Subodh Kumar Bhargava vs. CIT (Delhi High Court)

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DATE: (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: January 1, 2009 (Date of publication)
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Limitation period for levy of penalty

Though s. 275(1) (c) provides that the limitation for levy of penalty shall be “after the expiry of the financial year in which the proceedings, in the course of which action for the imposition of penalty has been initiated, are completed, or six months from the end of the month in which action for imposition of penalty is initiated, whichever period expires later”, in a case where the initiation of action for imposition of penalty is not in the course of some proceedings (e.g. penalty u/s 271B for failure to get accounts audited u/s 44AB and non-filing of audit report), the first part of s. 275(1)(c) would have no application and it is only the period of limitation prescribed in the second part which would apply. Since only one period of limitation would be applicable, the expression “whichever period expires later” would have to be read as that very period of limitation.