Writ challenge to income-tax notices under section 43B failed as assessment proceedings were allowed to continue.

Notices proposing disallowance under section 43B for alleged non-payment of sales tax were not interfered with in writ jurisdiction. The pendency of a separate writ concerning deferment of sales tax liability was held insufficient to stall assessment proceedings. The assessee was left free to file a reply before the assessing authority and raise all permissible defences, and any grievance could be pursued through the statutory remedies available under the Income-tax Act. The writ petition was therefore not entertainable at the threshold.

---

---

Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging notices issued under the Income-tax Act and seeking to stall assessment proceedings was liable to be entertained at the threshold.

Analysis: The challenge was directed against notices proposing disallowance under section 43B of the Income-tax Act, 1961, in relation to alleged non-payment of sales tax collected by the assessee. The Court held that the pendency of a separate writ petition concerning the assessee's claim for deferment of sales tax liability was not a sufficient ground to injunct continuation of the assessment proceedings. The assessee was left free to file a reply to the notices and raise all permissible defences before the assessing authority, which was expected to decide the matter in accordance with law. The Court also noted that adequate statutory remedies were available under the Income-tax Act if the assessee remained aggrieved by the eventual decision.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not entertainable at this stage and the impugned notices were not interfered with.

---