Home Case Index All Cases Income Tax Income Tax + HC Income Tax - 2020 (12) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2020 (12) TMI 1361 - HC - Income TaxTransfer of case u/s 127 - As submitted Authority to whom the proceedings were transferred has already passed the Assessment Order and the same has been served on the Appellant Assessee also - HELD THAT:- We are of the opinion that the Writ Appeal has become infructuous in view of the Assessment Order having been passed by the Assessing Authority in pursuance of the impugned transfer order under Section 127 - We are further of the opinion that the Transfer Order passed under Section 127 is more in the nature of an administrative order rather than quasi-judicial order and the Assessee cannot have any right to choose his Assessing Authority, as no prejudice can be said to have been caused to the Assessee depending upon which Authority of the Department passes the Assessment Order. Assessee can only be concerned with getting an opportunity of hearing before the concerned Assessing Authority and adduce his evidence and make his submissions before the concerned Assessing Authority. The Income Tax Department has recently introduced a Scheme of Faceless Assessments which will avoid personal hearing and physical interaction of Assessee and Assessing Authority altogether. Assessee need not even know the name of the Assessing Authority who will deal with his case. The process of hearing appears to have been undertaken by the Assessing Authority who passed the order on 30.12.2016 during the pendency of the writ petition with the permission of the Court, and the Assessment Order to be kept in sealed cover and which was served on the Assessee after the dismissal of the Writ Petition on 05.12.2017. We do not see anything wrong in the Assessing Authority passing the Assessment Order in the present case and for other years with the due permission of the Court itself and keeping that in a sealed cover until the writ petition was dismissed on 05.12.2017. Even thereafter, the orders were sought to be served only along with a communication dated 21.01.2019 to which the Assessee responded by his letter dated 07.02.2019 and thereafter, another letter by the Chartered Accountants of the Assessee, Mr.R.Balachandran, a response for payment of outstanding tax was given by stating that they were not liable to pay the tax as assessed in the orders in question merely because the Writ Appeal was pending before this Court. It is made clear that there was no stay order from the Division Bench of this Court either against the recovery or passing of the order itself or service thereof on the Assessee. In our opinion, therefore, there was an abuse of process of the Court in the writ proceedings by the Assessee and taking advantage of the pending litigation, the Assessee has tried to ride roughshod over the Departmental Authorities which it was not entitled to do. An assessment of the tax liability under the Income Tax Act is an obligation of the Assessing Authority and equally obliged is the Assessee to abide by it subject to his right to avail remedy by way of appeals as provided in the Law. Instead of choosing either availing of those remedies or paying the tax as assessed by the Assessing Authority, the Assessee seems to be resting upon the pendency of the litigation in this Court which in our considered opinion was wholly misconceived in the first instance, and infructuous in any case with the passing of the Assessment Order on 30.12.2016. Therefore, we dismiss this Writ Appeal without interfering with the order of the learned Single Judge in any manner or the Assessment Order passed by the Assessing Authority or the Transfer Order passed by the Revenue Authorities under Section 127.
|