9911796707
TMI Blog2023 (2) TMI 867X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e M/s Kanpur Builders Pvt. Ltd. whereby it has been assessed to tax on alleged escaped income Rs. 189,15,91,521/-. Undisputedly, that re-assessment proceeding had been drawn up under Section 147 and 148 of the Income Tax Act 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), on certain information received by the assessing officer arising from the transaction of sale of immovable property of value Rs. 68 crores. 3. Undisputedly, re-assessment notice was issued on 28.3.2021 in the name and at the address of the company M/s Kanpur Builders Pvt. Ltd. It remained unresponded. Consequently, re-assessment order was also passed ex-parte. In such facts, submission of learned senior counsel for the petitioner is, earlier, there existed two companies M/s Ka ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to be pending consideration before this Court in appeal filed under Section 260A of the Act being I.T.A Nos. 45 of 2020 and 18 of 2021. 7. While the assessment of the petitioner stood thus concluded, the assessing authority of the erstwhile/transferor company chose to initiate re-assessment proceedings against that entity. Thus, re-assessment notice was first issued against the transferor company on 28.3.2021. That re-assessment notice and further notices issued in those proceedings were never directed at and were never served on the petitioner company. Those were served through e-mail on the transferor company. The same remained unreplied/unresponded. 8. Consequently, the assessing authority of the transferor company has passed the imp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... participate in the re-assessment proceedings, it cannot be permitted to seek indulgence of the Court in exercise of extra-ordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. It may be relegated to the forum of alternative remedy. Last, it has been submitted, in any case, provisions of Section 150 of the Act would protect the revenue. To that extent, learned counsel for the revenue prays leave of the Court to issue fresh re-assessment notice to the petitioner company for A.Y. 2015-16. He has also placed reliance on the decision of the Supreme Court in Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (Central)-2 Vs. Mahagun Realtors (P) Ltd., (2022) SCCOnline SC 407. 11. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ious year after the date of succession." 13. Consequently, it must be noted, the income for the A.Y. 2015- 16 had to be assessed at the hands of the petitioner/transferee company and not the transferor. In fact, that was also done by means of the assessment order dated 30.12.2017. 14. What prompted the assessing authority of the transferor company to subsequently issue the reassessment notice to that company, well after the completion of the original assessment order against the present petitioner as also well after the effective date 01.04.2014 is not for the Court to speculate. As a direct consequence in law, that notice was inherently and fundamentally defective. The reasoning contained in Commissioner of Income Tax (Central)-2 Vs. Mah ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order dated 30.12.2017 passed in the case of the merged entity i.e. the present petitioner. Unless that assessment order had been first examined by the assessing authority, it is difficult to visualize a situation where he may have entertained any "reason to believe" that any income had escaped assessment. The present observation has been made conscious of the discussion in the original assessment order dated 30.12.2017 wherein not only the fact of the merger of the two entities had been taken note of but also that assessing authority had taken note of the transaction of sale of immovable property at Rs. 68 crores. That transaction alone appears to have given rise to re-assessment proceedings against the transferor company. Therefore, it d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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