Section 246 of the Income Tax Act
Income-tax Act, 2025: s.356
Section 246 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 corresponds to section 356 (Appealable orders before Joint Commissioner (Appeals)) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read section 356 of the 2025 Act
Correspondence checked against the ICAI tabular mapping of the two Acts and the BharatTax.co section commentary.
The decision most relied on for Section 246 is CIT v. Rampur Engg (309 ITR 143), cited in 35 of the 130 judgments on BharatTax that turn on this section.
Leading authorities on Section 246
The power to impose penalty under section 271 of the Income-tax Act depends on the Assessing Officer's satisfaction, which must be recorded during the proceedings. If the officer is not satisfied and has not recorded this satisfaction, the penalty cannot be exercised.
A penalty order under section 271(1)(c) is unsustainable if the Assessing Officer (AO) initiates proceedings for "concealment of particulars of income" but ultimately finds the assessee guilty of "furnishing inaccurate particulars of income", or vice versa. The AO cannot be uncertain in the penalty order as to which charge applies, as this error goes to the root of the matter and is not saved by section 292B.
