9911796707
TMI Blog2021 (12) TMI 1455X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2. The petitioner is a registered partnership firm, who had filed the return declaring the total income at Rs.2,740/- electronically for the Assessment Year 2018-2019. 2.1 The case of the petitioner was selected for scrutiny and a notice under Section 143(2) of the Act was issued on 23.09.2019 and reply came to be filed on 04.10.2019. 2.3 There are certain notices which have been thereafter issued under Section 142(1) of the Act and they had been replied to by the petitioner. After about a year, a show cause notice came to be issued on 25.03.2021 under Section 143(3) of the Act along with the same the Draft Assessment Order also had been served upon the petitioner. 2.4 Since a day's compliance was noticed by the petitioner, it had soug ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 27.03.2021 at Annexure-'A' and/or taking any other steps in this regard and further notices issued for the purpose reassessment. (c) Award the cost of this petition. (d) Grant such other and further reliefs as this Hon'ble Court deems fit." 3. Affidavit-in-reply has been filed by the Income Tax Officer, Ward-3(3)(1), Ahmedabad, who is a jurisdictional Assessing officer. According to him, the petition is prematured, the challenge of the order dated 27.03.2019 can lie to the CIT (Appeals) and thereafter to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) hence, the effective alternative remedy cannot be permitted to be bypassed. On the issue of non-response to the adjournment application, it has contended that there was no such letter receiv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and whether the assessment framed can therefore be permitted to be sustained. As the disputed facts narrated above are already on the record, they need not be reiterated. Couple of notices were issued to the petitioner, which he had replied to and sufficient time had gone. However, the Faceless Assessment after introduction of Section 144B of the Act, mandates the service of final show cause notice along with the Draft Assessment Order. Once served the same needs to be responded to. The question that has been raised is with regard to an extremely short period that had been given on service of the final notice and the Draft Assessment Order. 7. If one looks at the show cause notice dated 25.03.2021, it has noticed the anxiety and uncertaint ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o compile the information and represent before the authority. Therefore, in the given situation, the request had been made by the petitioner to allow the time upto 10.04.2021 and furnishing the reply against the show cause notice also was requested to be differed till then. 10. Affidavit-in-reply says that no such adjournment application has been received. This unfortunately a wrong and incorrect statement made by the respondent. From the details furnished by the petitioner, there is hardly any dispute in respect of these documents which are at Annexure 'C' before this Court produced by the petitioner, there is no earthly reason as to why, when there is a specific e-trail of the documents, the respondent should deny to have received the sa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) of Section 143 or under Section 144 in the cases referred to in subsection(2)(other than the cases transferred under sub-section (8), on or after the 1st day of April, 2021, shall be nonest if such assessment is not made in accordance with the procedure laid down under this section." 11. Wherever, there is a clear breach in following the procedure under this provision, assessment made under Section 143 (3) or under Section 144 (other than those transferred under Section 144(8) after 01.04.2021) would be non-est. In the matter on hand, as is quite apparent by not providing the opportunity to the assessee when huge variation/addition was proposed by the authority, would naturally and obviously prove prejudicial to the interest of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... see also has no one to turn to but to send a request through the e-portal. 12. Therefore, in the instant case when there was already a second surge of infection due to COVID-19 virus, the entire country was grappled with that second waive. If there is a categorical request that was made on account of such infection of the partner of the petitioner company and time was sought on 10.04.2021 when the time period for finalizing the assessment was getting over on 30.04.2021 as was known to the respondent from February, 2021, as extension had already come by virtue of the Circular, the framing of the assessment in clear defiance and in violation of this provision shall need to be interfered with. 13. Resultantly, we allow the present petition a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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