45[Power to reduce or waive penalty, etc., in certain cases.
46273A.
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the 47[ 48[***] Commissioner] may, in
his discretion, whether on his own motion or otherwise,—
(i) 49[***]
(ii) reduce
or waive the amount of penalty imposed or imposable on a person under clause (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 271; *[or]
(iii) 50[***]
if he is satisfied that
such person—
(a) 50[***]
(b) in the case referred to in clause (ii), has, prior to the detection 51 by the 52[Assessing] Officer, of the
concealment of particulars of income or of the inaccuracy of particulars furnished
in respect of such income, voluntarily 53 and in good faith, 53 made full and true
disclosure 53 of such particulars,
(c) 54[***]
and also has, 55[in the case referred to in
clause (b)], co-operated 53 in any enquiry relating to
the assessment of his income and has either paid or made satisfactory
arrangements for the payment of any tax or interest payable in consequence of
an order passed under this Act in respect of the relevant assessment year.
Explanation 56[***].—For the purposes of
this sub-section, a person shall be deemed to have made full and true
disclosure of his income or of the particulars relating thereto in any case
where the excess of income assessed over the income returned is of such a
nature as not to attract the provisions of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section
271.
56[***]
(2) Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (1),—
(a) 57[***]
(b) if in a case falling under clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 271, the amount of income in respect of which
the penalty is imposed or imposable for the relevant assessment year, or, where
such disclosure relates to more than one assessment year, the aggregate amount
of such income for those years, exceeds a sum of five hundred thousand rupees,
no order reducing or
waiving the penalty under sub-section (1) shall be made by 58[the Commissioner except
with the previous approval of the Chief Commis-sioner or Director General, as
the case may be].
(3) Where an order has been
made under sub-section (1) in favour of any person, whether such order relates
to one or more assessment years, he shall not be entitled to any relief under
this section in relation to any other assessment year at any time after the
making of such order :
59[Provided that where an order has been made
in favour of any person under sub-section (1) on or before the 24th day of
July, 1991, such person shall be entitled to further relief only once in
relation to other assessment year or years if he makes an application to the
income-tax authority referred to in sub-section (4) at any time before the 1st
day of April, 1992.]
(4) Without prejudice to
the powers conferred on him by any other provision of this Act, the 60[ 61[***] Commissioner] may, on
an application made in this behalf by an assessee, and after recording his
reasons for so doing, reduce or waive the amount of any penalty payable by the
assessee under this Act or stay or compound any proceeding for the recovery of
any such amount, if he is satisfied that—
(i) to do otherwise would cause genuine hardship
to the assessee, having regard to the circumstances of the case; and
(ii) the assessee has co-operated in any inquiry
relating to the assessment or any proceeding for the recovery of any amount due
from him:
62[Provided that where the amount of any
penalty payable under this Act or, where such application relates to more than
one penalty, the aggregate amount of such penalties exceeds one hundred thousand
rupees, no order reducing or waiving the amount or compounding any proceeding
for its recovery under this sub-section shall be made by 63[the Commissioner except
with the previous approval of the Chief Commissioner or Director General, as
the case may be].
(5) Every order made under
this section shall be final and shall not be called into question by any court
or any other authority.]
64[(6) The provisions
of this section 65[as they stood
immediately before their amendment by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act,
1989] shall apply to and in relation to any assessment for the assessment year
commencing on the 1st day of April, 1988, or any earlier assessment year, and
references in this section to the other provisions of this Act shall be
construed as references to those provisions as for the time being in force and
applicable to the relevant assessment year.]
66[(7) Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (6), the provisions of sub-section (1),
sub-section (2), or, as the case may be, sub-section (4) [as they stood
immediately before their amendment by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1989
(3 of 1989)], shall apply in the case of reduction or waiver of penalty or
interest in relation to any assessment for the assessment year commencing on
the 1st day of April, 1988 or any earlier assessment year, with the
modifications that the power under the said sub-section (1) shall be
exercisable only by the Commissioner and instead of the previous approval of
the Board, the Commissioner shall obtain the previous approval of the Chief
Commissioner or Director General, as the case may be, while dealing with such
case.]