# [1964] 6 S.C.R. 857

- **Citation:** [1964] 6 S.C.R. 857
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1964
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 316 of 1962
- **Bench:** P. B. Gajendragadkar, K. N. Wanchoo, K. c. DAS GUPTA, J.C. Shah, N. Rajagopala Ayyangar
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/1964-6-s-c-r-857-3225
- **Pages:** 11

## Headnote

fudustrial
Tax-Assessment
under
the
Tax
Rults-A.mendmentYalidity-AsJtnm•nt under the old law if validated by the Yal1datin1 Act-Validating Act if, hit b1 Art. 14-lndore Industrial
T~
1964
February 20'..
858
SUPREMJ; COURT REPORTS
Rules. 1927: rr. 17. 18-Finilnce Act No. 2S of 19SO-Madhy•
Bharat Tax~s on
Income
(Validation) Act No. 38
of 1954Constitution of India. Art. 14 •
.8111# or Madhya
The appellant, a Cotton Mill in Indore in Holkar State was taxed
Bharat
in respect of profits, gains and income under the Indore Industrial Tax
Ru!OI, 1927 by the then Ruler of Indore. The Holkar State merged
into the State of Madhya Bharat which acceded to India. Tho
Rajpramukh of the new State promulgated an Ordinance No. I of 1948
to provide for peace and good Government of the State. This Ordinance
was superseded by Act I of 1948. Thereafter on December 28, 1949,
me Government issued a Notification under r. 18 of the Tax Rules
purporting to make rules under r. 17 thereof. These rules made certain
amendments in the Tax Rules. The State of Madhya Bharat became
ono of the Part B States on January 26, 19SO. From April I, 19SO,
Finance Act No. 25 of 1950 came into force and applied to Madhya
Bharat also. According to its provision, the Tax Rules came to be
repealed from after the accounting year ending on March 31, 1949 and
assessments could only be made under the Tax Rules upto the end of
the accounting period ending on or before March 31, 1949.
It further
provided that even the assessments for the years previous to the
accounting year ending on March 31, 1949
could only
be made by
the corresponding authorities under the Income-tax: Act, and that
·appeals would lie to the corresponding authorities under the Income-tax
Act; no levy and ·assessment could be made ·by the authorities under
the repealed law and no appeal would lie to the authorities or Court
under that law.
This provision as to the authorities competent to
make assessments was lost sight of with the result that assessments
were made for the years in dispute which were all before the accounting
year ending on March 31, 1949 by the authorities under the Tax
Rules, as they were before their repeal. When this mistake was discovered, Parliament passed the Madhya Bharat Taxes on Income
(Validation) Act, No. 38 of 1954. The appellant then challenged tho
validity of the assessments under the Tax Rules, on the grounds:
(I) that the amendments of the Tax Rules on December 28, 1949
were invalid as such amendments could not be made under r. 17 of the
Tax Rules, as was purported to be done; (2) even if the amendments
were goo'd, they could not have retroactWe effect and could not ta.kc
away the vested right of appeal; ()) as after the Finance Act, 1950,
assessments were made by the old officers appoinred under the Tax
Rules and not by the corresponding officers under the Income-tax Act,
the assessments were invalid and the Validating Act could not validate
them because, (i) the Validating Act itself was discriminatory and was
hit by Art. 14, and (ii) because in any case it did, not apply to the
present assessments.
The High Court repelled all these contentions
and dismissed the writ petition. On appeal by certificate this Court,
Held: (i) The amendments which were made in the Tax Rules on
December 28, 1948, could be justified on the basis of Act I of 1948.
All that s. S of Act I of 1948 requires is the publication of tho
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
859
regulation made thereunder and their being made by Government, and
1964
that has been complied with in this case. There is no other formality
required for making regulations and therefore, even though there was
Hu~~ltand
a mistake in the opening part of the Notification of December 28, 1949,
v.
the amendments made in the Tax Rules can be upheld under s. S of Stat• of Madlrya
Act I of 1948 as regulations.
Bharat
(ii) Even a vested right of appeal can be taken away by express
legislation or by legislation which, though it may not expressly re

## Text

6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
857
possession, showing a rational relation between the differ1964
1ential treatment and the classification and has also not State of Madlqfi,
placed any material before the Court throwing light on the
Pradult
v.
question whether the continuance of the tax was justified : Bhopal
s,,,.,
it merely chose to plead its case as on a demurrer. Both
lndunriu
the State and the Company have by inadequate appreciation
Shah 1.
of the true position in law contributed to the manner in
which the trial of the petition has proceeded.
We would
in the circumstances not be justified in dismissing the peti·
tion on a technical view of the burden of proof. , We think
that this is a case in which the iparties should be given an
opportunity to plead their respective cases adequately and
to go to trial after the requisite evidence which has a bearing
is brought before the Court.
We accordingly allow the appeal, set aside the order
and remand the case for retrial to the High Court.
The
High Court, will, if the Company so desires, give oppor·
tunity to the Company to amend its petition .so as to
adequately iplead its case of infringement of the fundamental
right to equal protection of the laws supported by necessary
particulars.
The High Court will also give opportunity to
the State to file its affidavit in reply and to place all such
materials as it may rely upon the plea set up by the Com1>any. After the pleadings are completed and the evidence
is brought on the record, the High Court will proceed to
decide the case according to law.
Costs in this Court will
be the costs in the petition before the High Court.
Appeal allowed.
HUKUMCHAND MILLS LID.
v.
1HE STATE OF MADHYA BHARAT AND ANOTHER
(P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, C.J., K. N. WANCHOO, K. c. DAS
GUPTA, J.C. SHAH AND N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR JJ.)
fudustrial
Tax-Assessment
under
the
Tax
Rults-A.mendmentYalidity-AsJtnm•nt under the old law if validated by the Yal1datin1 Act-Validating Act if, hit b1 Art. 14-lndore Industrial
T~
1964
February 20'..
858
SUPREMJ; COURT REPORTS
Rules. 1927: rr. 17. 18-Finilnce Act No. 2S of 19SO-Madhy•
Bharat Tax~s on
Income
(Validation) Act No. 38
of 1954Constitution of India. Art. 14 •
.8111# or Madhya
The appellant, a Cotton Mill in Indore in Holkar State was taxed
Bharat
in respect of profits, gains and income under the Indore Industrial Tax
Ru!OI, 1927 by the then Ruler of Indore. The Holkar State merged
into the State of Madhya Bharat which acceded to India. Tho
Rajpramukh of the new State promulgated an Ordinance No. I of 1948
to provide for peace and good Government of the State. This Ordinance
was superseded by Act I of 1948. Thereafter on December 28, 1949,
me Government issued a Notification under r. 18 of the Tax Rules
purporting to make rules under r. 17 thereof. These rules made certain
amendments in the Tax Rules. The State of Madhya Bharat became
ono of the Part B States on January 26, 19SO. From April I, 19SO,
Finance Act No. 25 of 1950 came into force and applied to Madhya
Bharat also. According to its provision, the Tax Rules came to be
repealed from after the accounting year ending on March 31, 1949 and
assessments could only be made under the Tax Rules upto the end of
the accounting period ending on or before March 31, 1949.
It further
provided that even the assessments for the years previous to the
accounting year ending on March 31, 1949
could only
be made by
the corresponding authorities under the Income-tax: Act, and that
·appeals would lie to the corresponding authorities under the Income-tax
Act; no levy and ·assessment could be made ·by the authorities under
the repealed law and no appeal would lie to the authorities or Court
under that law.
This provision as to the authorities competent to
make assessments was lost sight of with the result that assessments
were made for the years in dispute which were all before the accounting
year ending on March 31, 1949 by the authorities under the Tax
Rules, as they were before their repeal. When this mistake was discovered, Parliament passed the Madhya Bharat Taxes on Income
(Validation) Act, No. 38 of 1954. The appellant then challenged tho
validity of the assessments under the Tax Rules, on the grounds:
(I) that the amendments of the Tax Rules on December 28, 1949
were invalid as such amendments could not be made under r. 17 of the
Tax Rules, as was purported to be done; (2) even if the amendments
were goo'd, they could not have retroactWe effect and could not ta.kc
away the vested right of appeal; ()) as after the Finance Act, 1950,
assessments were made by the old officers appoinred under the Tax
Rules and not by the corresponding officers under the Income-tax Act,
the assessments were invalid and the Validating Act could not validate
them because, (i) the Validating Act itself was discriminatory and was
hit by Art. 14, and (ii) because in any case it did, not apply to the
present assessments.
The High Court repelled all these contentions
and dismissed the writ petition. On appeal by certificate this Court,
Held: (i) The amendments which were made in the Tax Rules on
December 28, 1948, could be justified on the basis of Act I of 1948.
All that s. S of Act I of 1948 requires is the publication of tho
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
859
regulation made thereunder and their being made by Government, and
1964
that has been complied with in this case. There is no other formality
required for making regulations and therefore, even though there was
Hu~~ltand
a mistake in the opening part of the Notification of December 28, 1949,
v.
the amendments made in the Tax Rules can be upheld under s. S of Stat• of Madlrya
Act I of 1948 as regulations.
Bharat
(ii) Even a vested right of appeal can be taken away by express
legislation or by legislation which, though it may not expressly repeal
the vested right of appea~ has the effect of such repeal by necessary
implication. Though the right of second appeal on facts is taken away
by the new rule 13 inserted in the Tax Rules, such right is taken away
by legislation by neceS5ary intendment
Therefore, the right of second
appeal after the amendment mnst be confined in all cases by necessary
intendment to questions of law only.
(iii) The Validating Act is not hit by Art. 14. The present cases
are with reference to years 1940-48, that is before the accounting
year ending on March 31. 1949. The assessments in these cases were
carried on by the ~Id officers under the old law and the Validating
Act specifically validates such assessments.
Jn these circumstances it
cannot be said tb'at these assess'ments 'have not been validated by the
Validating Act.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 316
of 1962.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated January 2,
1959 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Indore Bench)
at Indore in Civil Misc. Case No. 20 of 1955.
M. C. Setalvad, G. S. Pathak, B. Dutta,!. B. Dadachanji,
0. C. Mathur and Ravinder Narain, for the appellant.
B. Sen and I. N. Shroff, for the respondents.
February 20, 1964.
The Judgment of the Court was
delivered by
WANCHOO, J.-This is an appeal by special leave
Wanchoo
I.
against the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. It
raises the question of the validity of certain provisions of the
Indore Industrial Tax Rules, 1947, (hereinafter referred to
as the Tax Rules) and assessments made thereunder for the
years 1940 to 1948. The appellant is a cotton mill and in
1927 a tax was imposed on cotton mills in Indore in Holkar
State by the then Ruler in respect of profits, gains and in·
come of such mills. This was done under the Tax Rules
promulgated by the Ruler of Indore. The procedure under
860
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
IrM
the Tax Rules provided for a board of assessing c:tlicers.
Hukamchand
The orders of the board were open to appeal to the Member
Mill.r
in-charge of Commerce and Industry Department. There·
Stat•
0 ,V-Madhya after a second appeal was provided to the Government. Rule
Bharat
J 7 of the Tax Rules further provided that the power of mak·
Wanchoo J.
ing;rules was vested in the Government and such power shall.
~xcept on the first occasion of exercise thereof, be subject to
the! condition of previous publication. Rule Ill provided
that Rules made under r. 17 shall be published in the State
Gazette and thereafter shall have the force of law.
Rule 19
prqvided that the Member in-charge of Commerce and Indus·
tr] Department shall have power to make subsidiary rules
not inconsistent with the Tax Rules. On May 28, 1948, the
Ifolkar State merged to form the State of Madhya Bharat.
On July 19. 1948, the State of Madhya Bharat acceded to
India. Ordinance No. 1 of 1948 was promulgated by the
Rajpramukh of the new State of Madhya Bharat to provide
for the peace and good government of the State. This Ordi·
nance was superseded by Act 1 of 1948 which came into
force on December 13, 1948. Section 4 of the Act provided
for the continuance of the existing laws of any covenanting
State's or of any State which merged in the State of Madhya
Bharat until repealed or amended under the provisions of
the Act.
Section 5 of the Act provided that the Government
may by notification published in the Government Gazette
make regulations for the peace and good government of all
the territories which had already been included in the new
State or which may be included in it under the provisions of
s. 3 of the Act.
Such regulations were to have the force of
law unless they were repugnant to any Act or law or Ordi·
nance made by the Rajpramukh, in which case to the e"<tent
of their repugnancy they would be void.
Further it was
provided that such regulations may repeal or amend any law
already in force in any State before its administration was
taken over or before it was, as the case may be, merged in
the new State. Finally the section provided that the right
of the Rajpramukh to make Ordinances for the peace and
good government of the new State or of the States which may
become merged in the said State would remain u11affec-ted.
In view of the mcr(!Cr of the Holkar State into the State
of Madhya Bharat, some of the provisions of the Tax Rules
'.
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
861
had to be changed to bring them into line with the new set1961
up. Consequently, on December 28, 1949, the Government
Hukamchand
of Madhya Bharat issued a notification under r. 1 ~ of the
Mills
Tax Rules purporting to make rules under r. 17 thereof. Stat• 0,V-Matlhy11
These rules made certain amendments in the Tax Rules. It
Bharat
is not necessary to refer to all the amendments as we are conwanchoo 1.
cemed here only mth three amendments. The first amendment was that instead of the board making the assessment.
the assessment was to be made by an assessing officer.
The
second amendment was that the appeal from the assessing
officer was to be heard by an officer appointed from time to
time by the Minister in-charge of the Finance Department
in place of the Member in-charge of Commerce and Industry Department. The third amendment was with respect to
second appeals.
The amendment provided that instead of
the Government hearing second appeals which under the
old provision lay both on facts and law, second appeals there.
after were to be heard on a point of law by the High Court.
Then came the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950
and the State of Madhya Bharat became one of Part B States.
In the Finance Act No 25 of 1950, which <'ame into force
from April I, 1950 and applied to Madhya Bharat also, a
provision was made that any, law relating to income-tax or
super-tax or tax on profits of business in any part B State shall
cease to have effect except for the purpose of levy, assessment
and collection of income-tax and super.tax in respect of any
period not· included in the previous year for the purpose of
assessment under the Indian Income Tax Act, No. XI of
1922 for the year ending on March 31, 1951 or for any sub- ,
sequent year or, as the case may be, the levy, assessment and
collection of the tax on profits of business for any chargeable
accounting period ending on or before March 31, 1949. The
effect of this was that the Tax Rules came to be repealed
from after the accounting year ending on March 31, 1949.
and assessment could only be made under the Tax Rules upto the end of the accounting period ending on or before
March 31, 1949. A further provision was also made in the
Finance Act, 1950, that any reference in any such law to an
officer, authority, tribunal or court shall be construed as a
reference to the corresponding officer, authority, tribunal or
court appointed or constituted under the Income Tax Act.
The result of this provision was that even the assessments
862
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
1961
for the years previous to the accounting year ending on
B1lkamclumd
March 31, 1949 could only be made by the corresponding
Milb
authorities under the Income Tax Act, and the appeals would
Stat• 0,V-Madhya lie to the corresponding authorities under the Income Tax
Bharat
Act; no levy and assessment could be made by the authorities
Wanchoo 1.
under the repealed law and no appeal would lie to the authorities or court under that law. It seems however that this
provision of the Finance Act as to the authorities competent
to make assessments was lost sight of with the result that
assessments were made for the years in dispute in the present
appeal which are all before the accounting year ending on
March 31, 1949, by the authorities under the Tax Rules, as
they were before their repeal. Consequently when this mistake was discovered, Parliament passed the Madhya Bharat
Taxes on Income (Validation) Act, No. 38 of 1954 (hereinafter referred to as the Validating Act), s. 3 of which provided that " notwithstanding anything contained in the first
proviso to sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Finance Act,
all proceedings taken, assessments made and other acts
and things done
(including orders. made) by or before
any officer, authority, tribunal or court acting or purporting
to act under the relevant Madhya Bharat law in connection
with the levy, assessment and collection of any tax due,
under any such law in respect of the relevant period shall be
deemed always to have been valid and shall not be called in
question on the ground only that such proceedings were not
taken, assessments were not made or acts or things were not
done by or before the corresponding officer, authority, tribunal or court referred to in the said proviso." Section 4 of the
Validating Act further provided that "if immediately before
the commencement of this Act, any proceedings of the nature
referred to in section 3 are pending before any officer, authority, tribunal or court acting or purporting to act under the
relevant Madhya Bharat law, such proceedings may, notwithstanding anything contained in the first proviso to sub-section
(1) of section 13 of the Finance Act, be continued and completed in
accordance with the provisions of the relevant Madhya Bharat law, and the provisions of the said
proviso shall not apply, and shall be deemed never to have
applied, in relation to any such proceedings." What had
happened in the present case and in some other cases relating to laws which corresponded to the Indian Income-tax
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
Act was that the authorities under the Tax Rules made assess1961
ments in spite of the provisions in the Finance Act by which
Huh~
such assessments should thereafter have been made by the
Milla
corresponding authorities under the Indian Income-Tax Act, State otv • .,...,_
and that is why the Validating Act had to be passed.
Bhatol
The appellant challenged the validity of the assessments
made against it under the Tax Rules by a writ petition filed
in the Madhya Bharat High Court in 1955, on the following
l!rOunds:-
(1) The amendments of the Tax Rules on December
28, 1949 were invalid as such amendments could
not be made under r. 17 of the Tax Rules, as
was purported to be done.
(2) Even if the amendments made on December 28,
1949 were good, they could not have retroactive
effect -and could not take away the vested right
of appeal.
13) As after the Finance Act, 1950, assessments were
made by the old officers appointed under the
Tax Rules and not by the corresponding officers
under the Indian Income Tax Act, the assessments were invalid and the Validating Act C<'uld
not validate them (firstly) because the Validating
Act itself was discriminatory
and was hit by
Art. 14 and (secondly) because in any case it
did not apply to the present assessments. '
The High Court repelled all the contentions raised on behalf
of the appellant and dismissed the writ petition. Thereupon
the appellant applied to the High Court for a certificate of
fitness, which was granted; and that is how the appeal has
come up before us. We propose to deal with the points
raised in the order in which they have been set out above.
Re. (1):.
The first question is about the validity of the amendments
made in the Tax Rules on December 28, 1949. It is true
that the notification by which amendments were made purports to have been published under r. 18 of the Tax Rules
read with r, 17. The argument on behalf of the appellant
Wancllao J.
864
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
1961
is that r. 17 of the Tax Rules must be treated on a par with
Bukamchand
provisions in a statute which provide for framing of rules,
Milli
and these rules are subordinate legislation made fC'f carrying
·•
S- or Madhya out the purposes Of the Statute, and the power to frame such
Bharat
rules does not include the power to modify the parent law
waclloo 1.
under which the rules have to be framed. We do not think
it necessary for present purposes to consider thIS argument,
for we are of opinion that the amendments which were made
in the Tax Rules on December 28, 1949 can be justified on
the basis of Act I of 1948, which was passed on Decemb~r
13, 1948 by the Rajpramukh.
That Act, as already indicated, provided by s. 5 that the Government, by notification
published in the Government gazette. may make rrgulations
for the peace and good government of all "the: territories
which had been included in the State of Madhya Bharat or
which may be included in it under the provisions of s. 3 of
the Act. It also provided for the repeal or amendment by
regulation of any law already in force in any State before its
administration was taken over or before it was. ar the case
may be. merged in the United States. The Government had
therefore the power to amend the Tax Rules under s. 5 (I)
read with s. 5 (3) of Act I of 1948. The notification of
December 28, 1949 by which the amendment5 were made
was published in the gazette of the Madhya Bharat State
and the amendments were made by the Government. It is
true that in the opening part of the notification it is said
that the amendments were made under r. 17 of the Tax
Rules; bvt that in our opinion would not conclude the
matter, for if the Government had the power to make amendments under Act I of 1948, the amendment5 in the Rules
could be justified under that power in spite of the wrong
words used in the opening part of the notification of December 28, 1949. It is well settled that merely a wrong reference to the power under which certain actions are taken by
Government would not per se vitiate the actions done if they
can be justified under some other power under which the
Government could lawfully do these acts.
It is quite clear
that the Government had the power under 5. 5 (I\ and (3)
of Act 1 of 1948 to amend the Tax Rules, for that was a law
in force in one of the merged States. The only mistake that
the Government made was that in the opening p?.rt of the
notification s. 5 of the Act was not referred to and the noti-
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
865
fication did not specify that the Government was making a
1961
regulation under Act 1 of 1948. But that in our opinion
Hukamc/rand
would make no difference to the validity of the amendments,
Milla
if the amendments could be validly made under s. 5 of Act Stat• or Madh,.
l of 1948. It is not disputed that the amendments could be
Bharat
validly made under s. 5 of Act I of 1948.
We are therefore
wanchoo
1.
of opinion that the mere mistake in the opening part of the
notification in reciting the wrong source of power does not
affect the validity of the amendments made.
It is urged that
the Government knew that it could only make regulations
under s. 5 and it had made regulations under s. 5 of Act I
of 1948 in certain cases. Even if that be so, !here can in
our opinion be no doubt about the validity ot the amendments made if the Government had power to make them.
even though there was a mistake in the opening part of the
notification publishing the amendments.
All that ~. 5 of
Act 1 of 1948 requires is the publication of th.: regulation
made thereunder and its being made by Government; and
that has been complied with in this case.
Th,,re is no other
formality required for making a regulation and we are there> .
fore of opinion that even though there was ;i mi~take in the
opening part of the notification of December 28. I \149, the
amendments made in the Tax Rules can be upheld under
s. 5 of Act 1 of 1948 as a regulation.
We therefore reject
the contention under this head.
Re; (2):
Then it is urged that even if the amendments to the Tax
Rules are good, they could not affect vested rtghts l'f appeaJ
provided under the old law before the
amendments and
therefore insofar as the amendments affect this vested right,
they are of no effect. Now it is well settled that even a vested
right of appeal can be taken away by express legislation or
by legislation which, though it may not expressly repeal tho
vested right of appeal, has the effect of such repeal by neceS1ary implication.
We have already pointed out that in view
of the coming into existence of the new State of Madhya
Bharat, amendments to the Tax Rules had become necessary
In order to bring them into line with the structure of the new
· State. The three main amendments made in the Tax Rules
have already been set out by us.
Learned counsel for the
134-159 S.C.-115
866
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
E1¢4]
1964 ·
appellant does not attack two of them, namely, those relata,,.,;;;',_,,,
ing to the assessment officer and the first appeal provided
NW.
by the amendments.
The attack is on the amendment of
._ J· Mtul"7o r. 13 of the Tax Rules providing for a second appeal. Under
Blulrol
the old Rules, a second appeal lay to the Government both
lJl'llllCJw,
1•
on fact and Jaw; under the new law, it lay to the High Court
only on a question of law.
The quarrel is not with the
.'.orum of the second appeal; what is urged is that the ne'I\
rule does not allow a second appeal on a question of fact
while the old rule did.
That is undoubtedly so. But considering the set up in which the amendments had to be made,
it seems to us that even if the new rule cannot be read as an
express provision taking away the right of second appeal on
facts, it must in the circumstances be held that it does take
away that right by necessary
intendment. The new rule
provided for a second appeal like the old rule but confined
it to a question of law.
The necessary implication of the
new rule therefore was that though a second appeal will continue to lie as before its scope was cut down
only to
questions of law. We are therefore of opinion that though
the right of second appeal on facts is ,taken away by the new
rule 13 inserted in the Tax Rules, such right is taken away
by legislation by necessary intendment. In the circumstances
we are of opinion that the right of second appeal after
the amendment must be confined in all cases by necessary
intendment to questior:ts of law only.
The contention under
this head also fails.
Re. (3):
Coming now to the last point with respect to the VElidating Act, we have not been able to understand how the
Validating Act can be said to be discriminatory in nature.
A Validating Act is passed only when certain things have
been done which requite validation. This is exactly what
the present Validating Act has done and we fail to see on
what grounds it can be said to be discriminatory. Even
when the Finance Act of 1950 was passed it would have
been open to Parliament to leave the old assessments to be
carried on under the old procedure and by ollicers appointed
under the old law and such action could not be called discriminatory, for the simple reason that the old
assessments
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
llllnd on a different footing from new assessments after the
l9tll
new law comes into force.
It is true that Parliament providB•"'""'•'
ed otherwise in this case and the Finance Act of 1950 said
Milb
that the old assessments would be carried on by the cnrres- s1au ofv. Modlryl.
ponding officers under the Indian Income Tax Act. l;Jy misBltarrd
take however that provision was overlooked and the old
W011Choo
1.
assessments were made by the old officers under the ofd law.
All that Parliament did by the Validating Act was to allow
the old assessments to be made under the procedure provided
under the old law and we can see no discrimination in the
Validating Act on account of this fact.
We are therefore
of opinion that the Validating Act is not hit by Art. 14.
Further we have not been able to understand how the validation is of no effect so far as the present cases are concerned.
The present cases are with reference to years I 940-48, that
is before the accounting year ending on March 31, 1949. The
assessments in these cases were carried on by the old officers
under the old law and the Validating Act specifically validates such assessments. In these circumstances we havo
not been able to understand how it can be sa td that these
assessments have not been validated by the Validating Act.
The contention under this head must therefore also fail.
The appeal fails and is hereby dismissed with costs.
Appeal dismissM.
R. ABDUL QUADER AND CO.
".
SALES TAX OFFICER, HYDERABAD
IP. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, C.1., K. N. WANCHOO, K. C. DAS
GUPTA, J. C. SHAH AND N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAll, JJ.)
klt1 Taz-Taz Collected otherwise than In accordance wltls tlae A.clProvi1ion enabling the Government to recover 1uch tax collt!ct6dNot within tM competence of State Legisl01urt'--Connitlllion II/
India, Schedule VII, Entry 26 and 54 of List 11-Hyd•robad 0.IWllll
Salei Taz Act, 1950 (XII' of 1950), 1. 11.
1961
F•bTllOrJ Ile