TMI Blog2018 (11) TMI 1616X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntralisation as given by the Department in an Annexure to the counter affidavit. The same discloses that the hardship that would be caused to the witnesses and the inconvenience that would be caused to the Department in dealing with these cases at Hyderabad are far more than that of the assessees. Therefore, even on the question of relative hardship, it is not possible to interfere with the impugned orders. There are four writ petitions on hand. The first petitioners on the file of the Income Tax Officer at Bhimavaram, West Godavari District. Therefore, they cannot have a grievance about the transfer of cases to Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari District, which is a neighbouring district. Similarly, the second petitioners are assessees on the file of the jurisdictional officer at Visakhapatnam. Therefore, they cannot also have a grievance about the transfer of the cases to East Godavari District, as both the districts are located in the State of Andhra Pradesh and even the contention revolving around Section 127(2)(a) will not apply to their cases. Rajamahendravaram is closer to Visakhapatnam than to Hyderabad. That leaves us only with the remaining two writ petitions for th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ompetent authority transferred all the cases to Central Circle-I, Rajamahendravaram, East Godavari District. It is against these orders that the different assessees forming part of the same group, either as companies or as individual promoters, have come up with the above writ petitions. 6. Before proceeding further, it may be useful to record that there are 8 companies, 2 firms and 7 individuals, who were subjected to search and seizure operations. The names of the assessees, their status, the present jurisdiction, the reasons for centralisation and the investigation potential of all these 17 assessees, are presented in a tabular column by the Department, which may be extracted as follows: Sl No Name address of the assessee PAN and status Present jurisdiction Reasons for centralisation Investigation potential of the cases in view of the findings of search and suspicious nature of transactions between the said persons and the search group 1 M/s Nexus Feeds Ltd. AADCN 278 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tions in group companies and has made investments for which sources do not exist 7 Sri Goluguri Nagi Reddy ABCPE 1138L Individual ITO, W-2, Bhimavaram He is the elder brother of Mr. Rama Krishna Reddy, Mr. Srirama Reddy, Mr. Venkata Reddy Unexplained jewellery found seized 8 Sri Goluguri Venkata Reddy ABKPG 1135F Individual ITO, W-2, Bhimavaram He is the Director in Read Grow Exims Pvt. Ltd., Nexus Feeds Ltd., Nancy Industries Ltd., Novelty Reddy Reddy Motors Pvt. Ltd., Neopride Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Beneficiary of multiple transactions in group companies and has made investments for which sources do not exist 9 Sri Goluguri Ramakrishna Reddy ACHPR 2816G Individual ITO, W-2, Bhimavaram He is the Director in Nexus Feeds Ltd., Nutrient Marine Foods Ltd., Nexus Well-Hope Agritech Intl. Ltd., Nanc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... AJUPR 6033K Individual He is one of the Directors in M/s Real Grow Exims (P) Ltd. Statement recorded from the person and the investigation in progress 16 Sri Syed Obaid Ahmed (Prop: Pioneer Equipments Infrastru- cture) AAKPO 6762H Company Non Corp Ward 10(3), Chennai He is the Proprietor of M/s Pioneer Equipments Infrastructure, the firm which is involved in the routing of machinery from Golden Feeds to Nexus Feeds Statement recorded from the person and the investigation in progress 17 Sri Sheik Meera Mohiddin EVJPS 3348D Individual Ward 1, Bhimavaram He is one of the Directors in Risely Feeds Pvt. Ltd. Investigation in progress 7. Out of the 17 assessees whose names are listed in the tabulation above, only 5 limited companies, 3 individuals and 2 firms alone have come up with the above writ petitions. Wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... td., Plot No.89, Road No.71, Navanirman Nagar, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Rep. by its Director Goluguri Ramakrishna Reddy 13235/2018 Hyderabad 8. From the above, it is clear that out of the 10 persons/ companies who are the writ petitioners in the 4 writ petitions on hand, 5 of them are assessees on the file of the competent authority in Bhimavaram, West Godavari District, 3 of them are assessees in Hyderabad and 2 are assessees in Visakhapatnam. The fact that the companies form a conglomerate and that the first 3 writ petitioners in W.P.No. 9352 of 2018 are blood-brothers residing in Bhimavaram and happen to be the Promoters of the limited companies, are all not disputed. In other words, 5 out of the 10 petitioners in these writ petitions are permanent residents of Bhimavaram and are also assessees on the file of the authority in Bhimavaram. If no steps had been taken for centralisation under Section 127, those 5 writ petitioners would have continued to be assessed on the file of the officer in Bhimavaram. Similarly, 2 companies who are petitioners in one writ petition are assessed at Visakhapatnam and if no order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner from whose jurisdiction the case is to be transferred may, after giving the assessee a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter, wherever it is possible to do so, and after recording his reasons for doing so, pass the order; (b) 12. In Noorul Islam Educational Trust v. Commissioner of Income-Tax [2016] 388 ITR 489 (SC), the Supreme Court pointed out that in the absence of an agreement between the Directors General or Chief Commissioners of two different jurisdictions, the transfer of the file from one office in one State cannot be ordered to another office in another State. 13. On principle, there can be no dispute about the legal position that is sought to be made out by the learned counsel for the petitioners. But as a matter of fact, it is stated by the Department on oath in the counter affidavit that the Assessing Officers at Rajamahendravaram and at Hyderabad continue to come under the control of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Hyderabad. It is specifically contended by the Department that the Assessing Officer in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d that the procedure prescribed in Section 127(1), viz., that of giving an opportunity of being heard, has been complied with. The argument revolving around the necessity of an agreement as required by Section 127(2)(a) has also failed on factual grounds. Therefore, what is left is only the question of relative hardship. 19. The Department has filed separate counter affidavits in all the cases. The main theme of the song tuned by the Department in the counter affidavits is (i) that the Promoter Directors of the corporate entities in these cases have introduced unexplained share capital/share application money to the tune of ₹ 48 Crores in one case and ₹ 34 Crores in another case, in the names of more than 300 subscribers/shareholders, (ii) that the common feature observed by the Department was that the so-called subscribers and shareholders who reside in and around Bhimavaram, had filed returns of income for the first time in the Assessment Years 2012-13 and 2013-14, (iii) that a majority of those share applicants have declared almost equivalent incomes for the two assessment years, by resorting to estimation under Section 44AB, (iv) that the very identities ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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