TMI Blog2022 (12) TMI 1457X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... made before the time for writ petitioner-assessee to reply to the 148A(b) notice elapsed and the writ petitioner-assessee has in fact sent a reply before the time elapsed. Impugned order and impugned notice are set aside solely to facilitate the de novo drill after taking into account the reply of writ petitioner. To be noted, the impugned notice is a consequence or a product of the impugned order and therefore, impugned notice also perishes with the impugned order. The respondent shall proceed with the de novo drill from the 148A(b) notice dated 25.03.2022 by taking into account the reply of the writ petitioner-assessee dated 31.03.2022 sent on 31.03.2022 [acknowledged by respondent at 21:19:24 hours]. - Hon'ble Mr.Justice M.Sundar For the Petitioner : Mr.Vikram Vijayaraghavan along with Mr.R.Venkata Narayanan of M/s.Subbaraya Aiyar Padmanabhan Ramamani(Law Firm) For the Respondent : Mr.D.Prabhu Mukunth Arunkumar Junior Standing counsel ORDER This common order will now dispose of captioned main writ petition and the captioned two 'Writ Miscellaneous Petitions' ['WMPs' in plural for the sake of convenience and clarity]. 2. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 09.12.2022.' 3. As the aforementioned proceedings are to be read as an integral part and parcel of this order, short forms and abbreviations used in the aforementioned proceedings shall continue to be used in the instant order also. 4. Today, Mr.Mr.Vikram Vijayaraghavan along with Mr.R.Venkata Narayanan of M/s.Subbaraya Aiyar Padmanabhan Ramamani (Law Firm) for the writ petitioner and Mr.D.Prabhu Mukunth Arunkumar, learned Junior standing counsel (Revenue counsel) for the lone respondent are before this Court. 5. Learned Revenue counsel adverting to earlier proceedings submits that he has since obtained instructions. Therefore, with the consent of learned counsel on both sides, main writ petition itself was taken up. 6. Aforementioned 05.12.2022 proceedings captures the crux and gravamen of the writ petitioner's complaint and other particulars essential for appreciating this order. 7. Adverting to earlier proceedings, this Court was informed that when anybody clicks on the tick mark on the digital signatures, there is a pop-up and it is typically as follows: 8. A perusal of the notice dated 25.03.2022 under Section 148A(b) of IT Act makes it clear ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 148A(b) legal drill is done de novo the above has to be addressed is his say. Besides this point, learned Revenue counsel submitted that Ashish Agarwal' s case is distinguishable on facts as that was a case where the notice was issued under the earlier regime notwithstanding 148A(b) kicking in on and from 01.04.2021. 11. This writ Court has no hesitation in agreeing with learned Revenue counsel and the reasons are as follows: a) writ petitioner-assessee has sought for information/documents/evidence in the reply and therefore, if the de novo drill is to commence from 148A(b) notice dated 25.03.2022, obviously the respondent should take into account the reply. After all that is the crux and gravamen of this order. Therefore, while agreeing with the learned Revenue counsel without any hesitation, this Court also considers that the submission of writ petitioner-assessee in this regard is no argument. b) As regards the second submission on Ashish Agarwal' s case, this Court has no difficulty in agreeing with the submission of learned Revenue counsel as there is no disputation that on facts Ashish Agarwal' s case is one where the Revenue had erroneo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pears on advance notice, states that the Petitioner has received accommodation entries from Raj Trading Company, which is one of the twenty-eight bogus entities maintained by Sh.Deepak Nanjyani. He also states that the Revenue is in possession of bank details of Raj Trading Company. In fact, today in Court, he has handed over to learned counsel for the petitioner a copy of the email written by Income Tax Officer (Inv.) Raipur to Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle 16(1), Delhi. 6. This Court has consistently observed that to give effect to the objective of the scheme of Section 148A of the Act, the Assessing Officer must provide specific material and information to the Assessee in the notice issued under Section 148A(b) of the Act so that the Assessee can provide a meaningful response at the stage of inquiry under Section 148A proceedings. The following observation of this Court in its decision in Divya Capital One Private Limited v. ACIT Ors., 2022 SCC OnLine Del 1461 is apposite: 11. This Court further finds that the information/material stated in the impugned show cause notice dated 17th March, 2022 issued under Section 148A(b) of the Act have not been sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
