9911796707
TMI Blog2025 (2) TMI 773X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndia, praying for the following final reliefs:- (a) that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a Writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari under Article 226 of the Constitution of India calling for records of the Petitioner's case pertaining to Assessment Year 17 -18, after examining the validity, legality and propriety thereof, quash and set aside the letter dated 31.03.24 issued by the Respondent No.1 titled "Order Giving Effect to Advance Pricing Agreement" for A Y 17-18 ('Exhibit - Q'); (b) that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus under Article 226 of the Const ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 8,59,309; (ii) disallowance in respect of ESOP expenses of Rs. 8,99,44,000; and (iii) disallowance under Section 14A of the Act of Rs.18,93,373. 6. Aggrieved by the draft assessment order, the Petitioner informed Respondent No. 1 and Respondent No. 3, through letter dated 22nd September, 2021, that objections would be filed with the Dispute Resolution Panel ("DRP"), and accordingly requested them to not pass the final assessment order before receipt of directions from the DRP as per the provisions of Section 144C of the Act. 7. The Petitioner filed its objections with the DRP on 23rd September, 2021. 8. While the Petitioner's objections were pending disposal before the DRP, the Petitioner entered into an Advance Pricing Agreement ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fect to the APA in accordance with provisions of Section 92CD of the Act, subject to the Petitioner filing a modified return of income within the time lines prescribed by Section 92CD (1) of the Act. 10. Concerning the merits of the transfer pricing additions, the DRP followed their orders of earlier assessment years in the Petitioner's case. Concerning the disallowance of ESOP expenses, the DRP upheld the disallowance, following their orders of earlier assessment years in the Petitioner's case. Concerning the Section 14A disallowance, the DRP upheld the disallowance, following their orders of earlier assessment years in the Petitioner's case. Lastly, the DRP directed the AO and the TPO to give effect to their directions as per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d another notice dated 20th March, 2023 from Respondent No.2 to provide all relevant documents. Respondent No.2 issued the Annual Compliance Report on 23rd March, 2023, accepting income declared by the Petitioner in the modified return of income in terms of the APA. 14. On 28th March, 2023, the Petitioner received a letter from Respondent No.1 directing the Petitioner to provide a revised working of computation of income pursuant to APA/ Compliance Report of Respondent No.2, by 12.30 pm on 29th March, 2024, which was a holiday on account of Good Friday. The Petitioner protested against the lack of adequate time to respond, however filed its submission with Respondent No.1 on 29th March, 2024. 15. It is the case of the Petitioner that Resp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s were pending. This is because, Respondent No.1 had not passed the final assessment order as of that date. Hence, in accordance with the provisions of Section 92CD( 4) of the Act, Respondent No.1 was required to complete the assessment proceedings in accordance with the APA taking into account the modified return of income. To complete this exercise and the assessment proceedings, an extension of twelve months is provided by Section 92CD( 5) (b) of the Act. It is the case of the Petitioner that, in the facts of the present case, the final assessment order in pursuance of the directions dated 30th May, 2022 of the DRP was required to be passed by 30th June, 2022, however, in accordance with the extension allowed by Section 92CD( 5)(b) of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sing this Petition on the ground of an alternate remedy available to the Petitioner, we are of the view that this admitted amount of Rs. 23,77,74,400/- should be paid to the Petitioner along with interest. 23 For the aforesaid reasons, we pass the following orders:- (i) The Writ Petition is dismissed; (ii) The Petitioner is at liberty to file an Appeal under Section 246A (bb) of the Act against the Order dated 31st March, 2024; (iii) Respondents are directed to refund to the Petitioner an amount of Rs. 23,77,74,400/- as per the Order dated 18th June, 2024 passed under Section 154 r/w Section 92CD of the Act along with applicable interest until the date of payment; and (iv) In the facts and circumstances of the case, there will b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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