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2024 (3) TMI 383 - ALLAHABAD HIGH COURTTransfer of case u/s 127 - proposal to transfer the assessment jurisdiction of the petitioner from Kanpur to Mumbai - whether Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, U.P. (West) and Uttrakhand appear to have given his consent? - HELD THAT:- It cannot be denied at this stage that the show cause notice issued to the petitioner was rather non-speaking. Other than containing the proposal to transfer the assessment jurisdiction of the petitioner from Kanpur to Mumbai occasioned by the search conducted against it, it makes no reference of the necessity to transfer the same for reason of parallel search proceedings against Ravi Omprakash Agarwal. Again, petitioner is right in his contention, since consent to transfer the case from Kanpur to Mumbai was desired from the Principal Chief Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttrakhand, it is that authority that may have given the consent after issuing appropriate show cause notice to the petitioner after considering its reply thereto. In any case, it may not have been opened either to the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai or the Principal Chief Commissioner Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttrakhand to delegate that function to the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Kanpur. The language of Section 127 (2) (a) of the Act is pretty much clear in that regard. The consent has to emerge amongst two superior officers heading two different Commissionerate etc. with respect to the transfer sought. It is in that context that the designations have been expressed in the plural in the first part of Section 127 (2) (a) and in the singular in the later part. Thus, for the purpose of obtaining the views of the assessee, notice is required to be issued by the appropriate authority i.e. the officer who may express his consent to his counterpart being the officer under whose jurisdiction the case may eventually be transferred. At the same time, by virtue of first part of the Section 127 (2) (a) the consent must emerge amongst officers of equal rank. In the hierarchy of officers provided under Section 116 of the Income Tax Act, once the request is received from the higher ranked officer even if outside the jurisdiction ( of the officer from whom the case is to be transferred) indifference to that higher authority (making the request), the officer placed lower in rank may feel compelled to express his consent. Similarly, within the jurisdiction if the consent is accorded by the higher rank officer and the function of obtaining the assessee's objection is delegated to a subordinate officer, that opportunity to the assessee may remain an illusory remedy, of no avail. Once the consent may have been expressed by the higher ranked officer within the jurisdiction, his subordinate may not look to take a different view and render infructuous the consent given by his superior. Thus both on the plain language used by the statute as also for functional test, noted above, it commends acceptance that the consent sought by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Mumbai ought to have been considered and if necessary granted by an officer of equal rank, here the Principal Chief Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttrakhand. For that reasons it is that authority that may have issued the show cause notice to the petitioner and considered its reply before granting consent. Order - The order dated 10.01.2024 and 11.01.2024 is set aside.The petitioner may treat the impugned order to be the final show cause notice issued to it by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttrakhand. The petitioner may file its final reply to the said show cause notice within a period of ten days from today.
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