By TIOL News Service

ALLAHABAD, SEPT 29, 2016: THE issue is - Whether writ jurisdiction gives unlimited prerogative to High Court to correct all species of hardship or wrong decisions made within limits of powers of a court or Tribunal. NO is the answer.

Facts of the case

The assessee had filed its return for A.Y 1990-91 disclosing his income as Rs.1,80,910/- but AO passed assessment order making addition to the total tune of Rs. 20 lacs and odd. On appeal, the CIT(A) set aside addition made by AO but Tribunal on further appeal restored the order of AO. Thereafter, the assessee claimed to have deposited tax but claim waiver of interest. However, CIT(A) rejected application for waiver of interest charged u/s 220(2A) observing that all three conditions requisite for waiver contemplated under the said provision cumulatively were not available in the case in hand.

Having heard the parties, the High Court held that,

++ the CIT, who is the competent authority to consider the question of waiver, has noticed that Assessee has maintained certain documents showing goods taken on returnable basis from parties, but same were recorded as sales in accounts and thus he was found guilty of undisclosed income leading to evasion of tax and for that reason, AO found him guilty of evasion of tax which was affirmed in Appeal. Further, there was nothing to place before authorities concerned to show that it was a case of genuine hardship of the Assessee. Since these all are findings of fact and it has not been shown that findings recorded by CIT are perverse, we do not find that we can look into matter and examine the same as sitting in appeal since in supervisory jurisdiction of this Court and exercising writ jurisdiction, scope of judicial review is very limited and narrow. It is not to correct the errors in the orders of the court below but to remove manifest and patent errors of law and jurisdiction without acting as an appellate authority. This power involves a duty on the High Court to keep the inferior courts and tribunals within the bounds of their authority and to see that they do what their duty requires and that they do it in a legal manner;

++ but this power does not vest the High Court with any unlimited prerogative to correct all species of hardship or wrong decisions made within the limits of the jurisdiction of the Court or Tribunal. It must be restricted to cases of grave dereliction of duty and flagrant abuse of fundamental principle of law or justice, where grave injustice would be done unless the High Court interferes. In the present case, we do not find that the order impugned in this writ petition does satisfy any of the relevant considerations, as noticed above, so as to justify interference by this Court in this writ petition in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution of India.

(See 2016-TIOL-2294-HC-ALL-IT)