HON’BLE SUPREME COURT · SOURCE-REVIEWED NOTE
Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay City I v. Narsee Nagsee and Co., Bombay
Civil Appeal No. 319 of 1958
[1960] 3 SCR 988 ·
Business Profits Tax Act, 1947: sections 11(1), 14
Sources & disclosures includedDownload original judgment / order
3-judge bench · S. K. Das · J. L. Kapur · M. Hidayatullah
Assessment years: 1949-50; chargeable accounting period 13 November 1947–31 October 1948
01 · Facts of the case
The officer issued a first section 11 notice in January 1953 for the chargeable period ending October 1948 and assessed the firm despite its limitation objection. The appellate authorities and High Court held the notice invalid.
Source: Primary report: SCR 988–992
02 · Discussion by the Hon’ble Court
The majority read sections 11 and 14 together: escaped profits included cases where assessment had never commenced, not only failed or incomplete assessments. The statutory structure and related Income-tax provisions did not permit unlimited delayed first notices. Hidayatullah J dissented, finding section 11 unlimited for first assessments and section 14 confined to reopening earlier proceedings.
Source: Primary report: Majority SCR 992–1004; dissent SCR 1004–1026
03 · Judicial decision
By majority the assessment attempted after the four-year period was without jurisdiction. The Revenue could not avoid the section 14 limitation by calling it an original section 11 assessment.
Source: Primary report: SCR 1000–1004
04 · Outcome / in whose favour
The Revenue appeal was dismissed with costs in accordance with the majority judgment. The dissent’s proposed allowance was not the Court’s order.
Source: Primary report: SCR 1026
05 · AKHB REVIEW POINT
Identify the precise statutory assessment and reopening machinery before applying a limitation rule. This historical Business Profits Tax holding does not supply a universal four-year limitation for other taxes or present-day reassessments.
Source & verification
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Statutory scope
Historical legislation expressly identified in this note. This is not a decision under the Income-tax Act, 1961 or the Income-tax Act, 2025. Verify enacted wording, commencement, transition and subsequent judicial treatment independently before modern reliance.
Later treatment
Source checked 2026-10-23. Subsequent treatment and present-law applicability have not been comprehensively checked.
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AI disclosure & professional disclaimer
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General legal and tax research only; not legal or tax advice. Verify the complete judgment, applicable statutory version and subsequent treatment before reliance. AKHB REVIEW POINT is editorial analysis, not the Court’s holding.