HON’BLE SUPREME COURT · SOURCE-REVIEWED NOTE
Commissioner of Income-tax v. Sardar Lakhmir Singh
Civil Appeal Nos. 214 and 215 of 1958
[1964] 1 SCR 148 ·
Indian Income-tax Act, 1922: sections 31 and 34(3) · Indian Income-tax (Amendment) Act, 1953: sections 18 and 31 · Constitution of India: Article 14
Holding and result. By majority the time-barred power was not revived and the referred question did not permit reliance on the separate validating provision. The assessments were barred; two judges dissented.
Sources & disclosures includedDownload original judgment / order
Five-judge bench with multiple opinions · S. K. Das, J. · J. L. Kapur, J. · A. K. Sarkar, J. · M. Hidayatullah, J. · Raghubar Dayal, J.
Assessment years: 1946-47, 1947-48
01 · Facts of the case
After an HUF assessment was set aside with directions to assess father and son individually, the Officer made individual assessments on 27 November 1953, beyond the ordinary four-year period. Revenue relied on the amended proviso and the 1953 validating section.
02 · Discussion by the Hon’ble Court
The majority applied the contemporaneous Prashar reasoning: the amended proviso did not revive an already time-barred assessment power. Das and Kapur JJ also declined to decide a validating-section argument outside the referred question; Sarkar J considered the proviso discriminatory as to affected non-assessees. Hidayatullah and Raghubar Dayal JJ dissented.
Source: Primary judgment: reasoning
03 · Judicial decision
The individual assessments were barred by section 34(3) and were not sustained on the grounds advanced within the reference.
Source: Primary judgment: holdings
04 · Outcome / in whose favour
Revenue appeals dismissed in accordance with the majority.
05 · AKHB REVIEW POINT
AKHB analysis: identify the exact assessment deadline, amendment commencement and scope of the referred question. Preserve the fractured reasoning rather than presenting a single unanimous rationale.
Source & verification
Download original judgment / order · Open cited source rendition
Complete 15-page SCR report read in page-preserving text and every page image inspected, from the reported opening page through the operative disposition.
- Exact catalogue SHA-256 and 15-page count verified; every page was read and visually inspected.
Statutory scope
Historical statutory provisions are described as they appeared in the report. Verify the current enactment, amendments and later judicial treatment before reliance.
Later treatment
Source checked 2026-10-12. No comprehensive later-treatment or present-law clearance is represented. The note reports the historical statutory text and result in this primary report only.
Page references identify the supplied PDF; paragraph references identify the judgment unless stated otherwise.
AI disclosure & professional disclaimer
This AKHB research note was prepared with AI assistance from the identified primary report and has not been represented as independently human-reviewed.
General legal and tax research only; not legal or tax advice. Verify the complete judgment, governing statutory version and subsequent judicial treatment before reliance. The AKHB REVIEW POINT is editorial analysis, not the Court's holding, and no current-law clearance is claimed.