| the Supreme Court in a recent judgement delivered in the Virtual Soft System vs CIT (unreported), has held that no penalty can be imposed on an assessee for concealment of income under Section 271(1)(c) of the Act in the absence of any positive income prior to the amendment made by the Finance Act, 2002, effective from April 1, 2003. The court has further held that there is nothing in the language of Section 271(1)(c), as amended by the Finance Act, 2002, to suggest that the amendment was retrospective. The amendment being in the nature of substantive amendment would be prospective in the absence of any indication to the contrary. The statute levying penalty, being the first and last consideration, must be construed within the term and language of the particular statute. The Supreme Court judgement has reversed the judgement of the Delhi High Court which has taken a contrary view,. In the light of this judgement of the Supreme Court, no penalty for concealment of income shall be leviable in case the income assessed is negative, i.e., loss upto the Asstt. Year 2002-03. This judgement is unreported and full text is still awaited. Full text of the judgement when made available will be on the website http://www.cainindia.org.
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