54[Power to reduce or waive penalty in certain cases.
18B. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in
this Act, the 55[56[***] Commissioner] may, in his discretion,
whether on his own motion or otherwise,—
(i) 57[***]
(ii) reduce or waive the amount of penalty imposed or imposable on a
person under clause (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 18,
if he is satisfied that such person,—
(a) 58[***]
(b) in the case referred to in clause (ii), has, prior to the
detection by the 59[Assessing Officer], of the concealment of particulars of
assets or of the inaccuracy of particulars furnished in respect of any asset
or debt in respect of which the penalty is imposable, voluntarily and in good
faith made full and true disclosure of such particulars,
and also has co-operated in
any inquiry relating to the assessment of his net wealth 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 60[***].—For the purposes of this sub-section, a
person shall be deemed to have made full and true disclosure of the particulars
of his assets or debts in any case where the excess of net wealth assessed over
the net wealth returned is of such a nature as not to attract the provisions of
clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 18.
61[***]
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), if in a case
falling under clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 18, the net
wealth 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 net wealth for any one of the relevant assessment years, exceeds five
hundred thousand rupees, no order reducing or waiving the penalty under
sub-section (1) shall be made by 62[the
Commissioner except with the previous approval of the Chief Commissioner 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 :
63[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 wealth-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 64[[***]
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.
(5) Every order made under
this section shall be final and shall not be called into question by any court
or any other authority.]
65[(6) The provisions of this section 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.]