1955 (12) TMI 1 - SUPREME COURT

Whether there is a rational basis of classification to be found in the enactment of section 5(1) of the Act?

Whether the same class of persons were intended to be and could be dealt with under the provisions of section 47 of the Travancore Act XXIII of 1121?

Held that:- The fixation of the date for references for investigation by the Government to the Commission, viz., the 16th February, 1950, was not an attribute of the class of substantial evaders of income-tax which were intended to be specifically treated under the drastic procedure prescribed in the Travancore Act XIV of 1124 but was a mere accident and a measure of administrative convenience. The date of such references could, without touching the nature and purpose of the classification, be extended by the Travancore Legislature by a necessary amendment of the Travancore Act XIV of 1124, and if such an amendment had been grafted on the Act as originally passed, no one belonging to the particular class or category of substantial evaders of income-tax could have complained against the same.

Section 5(1) of the Travancore Act XIV of 1124 which has to be read for this purpose in juxtaposition with section 47 of the Travancore Act XXIII of 1121 cannot be held to be discriminatory and violative of the fundamental right guaranteed under article 14 of the Constitution. The proceedings which took place in the course of investigation by the Commission up to the 26th January, 1950, were valid and so also were the proceedings during the course of investigation which took place after the inauguration of the Constitution on the 26th January, 1950, under which the petitioner, as a citizen of our Sovereign Democratic Republic acquired inter alia guarantee of the fundamental right under article 14 of the Constitution. Appeal dismissed.