245HA. Power of Settlement Commission to send a case back to the Assessing Officer if the assessee does not co-operate.

(1) The Settlement Commission may, if it is of opinion that any person who made an application for settlement under section 245C has not co-operated with the Settlement Commission in the proceedings before it, send the case back to the Assessing Officer who shall thereupon dispose of the case in accordance with the provisions of this Act as if no application under section 245C had been made.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), the Assessing Officer shall be entitled to use all the materials and other information produced by the assessee before the Settlement Commission or the results of the inquiry held or evidence recorded by the Settlement Commission in the course of the proceedings before it as if such materials, information, inquiry and evidence had been produced before the Assessing Officer or held or recorded by him in the course of the proceedings before him.

(3) For the purposes of the time-limit under section 149, section 153, section 154, section 155 and section 231 and for the purposes of payment of interest under section 243 and section 244, in a case referred to in subsection (1), the period commencing on and from the date of the application to the Settlement Commission under section 245C and ending with the date of receipt by the Assessing Officer of the order of the Settlement Commission sending the case back to the Assessing Officer shall be excluded ;and where the assessee is a firm, for the purposes of the time-limit for cancellation of registration of the firm under sub-section (1) of section 186,the period aforesaid shall, likewise, be excluded.