Case ID: 276

Judgment:
315 of 1954. Petition under article 32 of the Constitution for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. H.J. Umrigar	 Narain Andley	 J. B. Dadachanji and Rajinder Narain for the petitioner. M. C. Setalvad	 Attorney General for India	 and C. K. Daphtary	 Solicitor General for India (G. N. Joshi	 Porusa Mehta and P. G. Gokle	 with them) for the respondents. October 2 1. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by MEHR CHAND MAHAJAN C.J. The petitioner in this matter is a resident of Akola in the State of Madhya Pradesh and carries on business in various lines	 i.e.	 oil mills	 banking	 money lending	 etc. It is alleged that during the war years he made huge profits but evaded payment of tax. In the year 1948 the Central Government	 acting under section 5(1) of the Taxation on Income (Investigation Commission) Act	 1947	 referred his case to the Investigation Commission for investigation and report	 in respect of the profits made by him during the period commencing with 1st of January	 1939	 and ending on 31st of December	 1947. The Commission	 after investigation	 reported on the 28th of February	 1951	 that the income of the petitioner concealed and withheld from taxation was in the sum of Rs. 27	25	363 and the tax payable by him amounted to Rs. 18	44	949. During the pendency of the investigation the peti tioner applied for settlement under the provisions of section 8 A of Act XXX of 1947. This application was forwarded along with the report by the Commission to the Central Government. In the settlement application the applicant proposed that he was prepared to pay the sum of RE;. 18	44	949 as under: 775 On or before 25 6 1951 Rs. 3	44	949 On or before 25 3 1952 Rs. 5	00	000 On or before 25 3 1953 Rs. 5	00	0000 On or before 25 3 1954 Rs. 5000	000 and that	 he be given credit for a sum of Rs	 32	034 4.6 already paid by him	 The Central Government accepted this proposal and the claim for evaded income tax was thus finally settled by mutual agreement. The assessee	 subsequently	 asked for more time to pay these instalments and this was	 also granted from time to time. Commencing from 16th of July	 1951	 	and till the 10th April	 1954. the petitioner paid a total sum of about Rs. 14	00	000 towards discharge of the liability voluntarily agreed to by him on account of the tax evaded. A sum of Rs. 4	50	000 still remains due and is payable in instalments up to the 25th of March	 1955. By one of the terms of the settlement the petitioner undertook not to transfer	 mortgage	 charge or alienate or encumber in any manner whatsoever any of his movable or immovable properties	 barring stock intrade of the business	 except with the permission of the Commissioner of Income tax and except for the purpose of the payment of the tax due under the settlement. In June	 1954	 after the decision by this Court of Suraj Mal Mohta vs A. V. Visvanatha Sastri and Another(1)	 the petitioner preferred this petition under the provisions of article 32 of the Constitution alleging that he had been advised that the entire proceedings under the Act which had resulted in the imposition upon him of a liability of Rs. 18	44	949 and in the payment already made of an aggregate amount of Rs. 13	99	175 were wholly illegal	 ultra vires	 void and unconstitutional and that the Income tax authorities were not legally entitled to recover the amount of Rs. 4	50	000 from him. In the grounds of the petition it was stated that sections 5	 6	 7 and 8 of Act XXX of 1947 were invalid and ultra vires in so far as they contravene the provisions of articles 14	 19(1) (f) and 31 of the Constitution and that under the Act (1) ; 776 there was no reasonable or equitable basic for classifica tion	 and that the Act gave to the execrative unrestrained and absolute right to pick and choose and to differentiate between the same class of taxpayers. It was also alleged that the procedure prescribed by the Act for discovering concealed profits was substantially different and was more prejudicial to the assessees than the procedure prescribed under the Indian Income tax Act by section 34. In the concluding paragraph of the petition it was prayed that an appropriate writ or direction be issued quashing the entire proceedings	 and all orders passed under the Act by the Central Government and the respondent Commission	 and restraining them from taking any proceedings whatsoever under the Act against the petitioner. It was further prayed that a direction be issued for restoration to the petitioner of a sum of Rs. 13	99	715 10 6 with interest at 6 per cent and that the respondents be further restrained from taking any action against the petitioner for the recovery of the sum of Rs. 4	50	000 with interest. In our judgment this petition is wholly misconceived. Whatever tax the petitioner has already paid	 or whatever is still recoverable from him	 is being recovered on the basis of the settlement proposed by him and accepted by the Central Government. Because of his request for a settlement no assessment was made against him by following the whole of the procedure of the Income tax Act. In this situation unless and until the petitioner can establish that his consent was improperly procured and that he is not bound thereby he cannot complain that any of his fundamental rights has been contravened for which he can claim relief under article 32 of the Constitution. Article 32 of the Constitution is not intended for relief against the I voluntary actions of a person. His remedy	 if any	 lies in other appropriate proceedings. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that apparently the application for a settlement seems to have been made under the pressure of circumstances and in view of the coercive machinery of Act XXX of 1947 and the settlement arrived in such circumstances 777 was not binding and could not	 be enforced. Whatever be the merits of such a contention	 it obviously cannot be raised in an application made under the provisions of article 32 of the Constitution. The forum for investigating such allegations is elsewhere. The result is that this petition fails and is dismissed with costs. Petition dismissed.

Summary:
The petitioner	 a business man	 was alleged to have made huge profits during the years of War and the Central Government acting under section 5(1) of the Taxation on Income (Investigation Commission) Act	 1947 (XXX of 1947) referred his case to the Investigation Commission for investigation and report. During the pendency of the investigation the petitioner 's application for settlement under the provisions of section 8 A of Act XXX of 1947 was accepted by the Central Government and in pursuance thereof the tax was made payable by installments and the claim for evaded income tax was thus finally settled be mutual agreement. When the installments in the sum of Rs. 4 lacs odd still remained due the petitioner preferred the present petition under article 32 of the Constitution alleging that the entire proceedings under Act XXX of 1947	 were illegal	 ultra vires	 void and unconstitutional	 that the Income tax authorities were not competent to recover the amount. due from him and that sections 5	 6	 7 and 8 of the Act were ultra vires as they infringed articles 14	 19(1) (f) and 31 of the Constitution. Held	 that the petition under article 32 was not competent as whatever had already been paid or whatever was still recoverable from the petitioner was being recovered. on the basis of the 99 774 settlement between him and the Government. Article 32 is not intended for relief against the voluntary actions of a person. Suraj Mall Mohta Co. vs A. V. Visvanatha Sastri (A.I.R. referred to.