Court upholds interim orders against Income Tax Assistant Commissioner, pending appeal completion

The court maintained the interim orders against the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax's decisions under Section 220(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Given the completion of appeal hearings and pending orders, the court deemed it unjust to revoke the longstanding interim orders. It directed the respondent department not to take recovery actions based on the challenged orders and instructed compliance with the forthcoming orders from the Commissioner of Appeals. The writ petitions were disposed of without costs, and related miscellaneous petitions were concluded.

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Issues:
Challenge to orders passed by Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax under Section 220(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Analysis:
In a series of writ petitions, the challenge was against the orders imposed by the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax under Section 220(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The first writ petition was filed in 2013, and an interim order was granted by the court. The petitioner's contention was that the authority had no jurisdiction to impose conditions for grant of stay as the matter was already decided by the Tribunal. The court granted interim stay orders which were subsequently extended as more orders were passed by the Assistant Commissioner. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) had taken up the appeals for hearing, and the court directed the petitioner to file an affidavit updating the status of the appeals. The petitioner submitted details of the appeal hearings, documents submitted, and the stage of proceedings. The court noted that the appeal hearings had concluded, and only the passing of orders remained.

The court observed that it would be unfair to vacate the interim orders that had been in place for several years, especially when the appeals had been heard, and orders were pending. The court considered it inequitable to disturb the interim orders at this stage when the appeals had been finalized and orders were to be passed shortly. The court directed that no recovery or coercive action should be taken against the petitioner based on the impugned orders. The respondent department was instructed to abide by the orders to be passed by the Commissioner of Appeals in the filed appeals. Consequently, the writ petitions were disposed of with no costs, and connected miscellaneous petitions were closed.

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