RAJES KUMAR, J. - (1.) THIS is an appeal under Section 260-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") at the instance of the revenue for the assessment year 1992-93 raising following question: "Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is legally justified in law in holding that interest under section 244-A is allowable on the refund of interest charged under section 220 (2) of the Act, though there is no provision under the Act to allow interest on the interest charged under section 220 (2) of the Act.
(2.) IT appears that by issuing a notice of demand, the assessee has been asked to deposit the interest under Section 220 (2) of the Act, which was subsequently refundable and was accordingly refunded. The assessee claimed the interest on the amount, which has been deposited as interest under Section 244-A of the Act, which has been refused by the assessing authority. The assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal), Muzaffarnagar which has been dismissed. Feeling aggrieved by the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal), the assessee filed second appeal before the Tribunal. The Tribunal by the impugned order dated 8.9.2006 allowed the appeal and held that the assessee is entitled for the interest on the amount which has been deposited as interest. Relying upon the decision of the Madras High Court in the case of Commissioner of Income Tax v. Needle Industries Pvt. Ltd., reported in 1998 (Vol.233)-370, the Tribunal has observed as follows: "We have considered the facts of the case and rival submissions. Section 156 of the IT Act provides that where any tax or penalty, fine or any other sum is payable in consequence of any order passed under this Act, the AO shall serve on the assessee a notice of demand in the prescribed form specifying the sum so payable. From this section, it is clear that for payment of interest u/s 220 (2) a notice of demand is required to be served on the assessee and therefore, the provision contained in Explanation to section 244A is satisfied in the instance case. Further, the Explanation merely defines the expression "date of payment of tax or penalty". Therefore, words used in this section control only the fixation of the date and not other matters mentioned in the clause. We find that the opening sentence of section 244A (1) is "where refund of any amount becomes due to the assessee under this Act". The word used is "amount", which is neutral expression, as pointed out by the Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of M/s Needle Industries (P) Ltd. (supra). We also find that clause (b) of sub-section (1) of this section speaks of the tax or penalty. It does not speak about the interest. However, when we read the main provisions of sub-section (1) along with its clause (b), and interpret them harmoniously, it becomes clear that the word "tax" will have to be read to mean tax and interest. Penalty has been separately covered in the aforesaid clause. Therefore, we are of the view that the assessee is entitled to interest on the amount refunded to him out of refund the interest paid u/s 220 (2) from the date of payment of interest to the date of grant of refund, as mentioned in the clause. The AO shall find out the date and pay interest to the assessee accordingly".
(3.) SRI A.N. Mahajan, learned Standing Counsel states that there is no specific provisions under the Act for allowing the interest on the amount which has been paid towards interest and, therefore, the Tribunal has erred in allowing the interest on the amount which has been paid towards interest. We do not find substance in the argument of learned Standing Counsel.;