By TIOL News Service:

KOLKATA, DEC 05, 2016: THE ISSUE IS - Whether assessee should be assisted in claiming or securing reliefs under the act which he failed to claim due to his ignorance or misconception. YES IS THE VERDICT.

Facts of the case:

The assessee claimed deduction with respect to hire charges paid by it to tanker owners for transportation of oil. The AO disallowed the said sum of Rs.1,12,73,815/- on the ground that the latter had not deducted tax at source. Rectification application was made in 2011. The assessment order dated 18th December, 2007 was, however, reopened and an assessment order under section 143(3)/147 was passed in 2010. The assessee pursued his application for rectification u/s 154 in 2013 and again in 2014, which was dismissed by tribunal.

On appeal, the HC held that,

++ The Tribunal, on the contrary, was of the opinion that the contention of the assessee that the order dated 18th December, 2007 passed u/s 143(3) had merged in the order dated 24th December, 2010 u/s 143(3) r/w/s 147 was mis-conceived. The Tribunal was entitled to take that view. But the Tribunal should have noticed the fact that the assessee had applied for rectification of the order dated 18th December, 2007 on 12th December, 2011, which was well within the period of limitation, which the learned Tribunal did not obviously do. The revenue is a conscientious litigant. The Apex Court has time and again held that the AO should bring to the notice of the assessee provisions which ensure to his benefit even if the assessee himself is not aware of that.

(See 2016-TIOL-2919-HC-KOL-IT)