- (1.) AT the instance of the assessee, the Income -tax Appellate Tribunal referred to this court the following question under Section 256(1) of the Income -tax Act, 1961 (for short, 'the Act, 1961'), for its opinion : 'Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was justified in law in confirming the enhancement of penalties made by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner under Section 271(1)(c) of the Income -tax Act, 1961?'
(2.) THE reference relates to the assessment years 1966 -67, 1968 -69, 1969 -70 and 1973 -74. For these years, the assessee returned incomes in the original returns as follows : Rs. 1966 -67 5,000 1968 -69 5,000 1969 -70 5,500 1973 -74 4,620 Assessments for the assessment years 1966 -67, 1968 -69 and 1969 -70 were completed on the basis of the incomes returned by the assessee. The Income -tax Officer noticed during the assessment proceedings relating to the assessment years 1972 -73 and 1973 -74 that a house was being constructed by the assessee in the name of his wife during the previous years relating to the aforesaid four assessment years. He, therefore, initiated proceedings under Section 147(a) read with Section 148 of the Act, 1961, for the assessment years 1966 -67, 1968 -69 and 1969 -70. Pursuant to the notices issued under Section 148, the assessee filed returns for the said three years showing income 'nil'. The reassessments for these years were made on March 9, 1976, as under ; Rs. 1966 -67 10,500 1968 -69 10,190 1969 -70 7,890
(3.) THE comparative position of the income originally assessed, income reassessed and the concealed income for these years is as follows : Assessment year Income shown in original assessment Income shown in reassessment Concealed income Rs. Rs. Rs. 1966 -67 5,000 10,500 5,500 1968 -69 5,000 10,190 5,000 1969 -70 5,500 7,890 1,290 ;