Court quashes order for non-compliance with statutory requirements (2) (1)

The petitions challenging notices under section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 were no longer relevant as the notices had been withdrawn. Regarding the challenge to the order under section 127(2) of the Act, the court found that the order transferring cases did not comply with the requirement of recording reasons as per section 127(1). As a result, the court quashed the impugned order under section 127(2) for not meeting statutory requirements.

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Issues involved: Challenge to notices u/s 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and order u/s 127(2) of the Act.

Challenge to notices u/s 153C:
The petitioner challenged the notices dated 6th October 2009 issued by the respondents u/s 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The petitioner was informed that the notice under section 153C had been withdrawn with the intention to issue a fresh notice. The petitioner contended that issuing a fresh notice on the same subject matter was impermissible. The Court noted that since the notices under section 153C had been withdrawn, the first relief claimed in the petitions would no longer be relevant, and hence did not express any opinion on the arguments presented by the advocates.

Challenge to order u/s 127(2):
The challenge to the order dated 1st October 2009 made under sub-section (2) of section 127 of the Act was based on the transfer of cases from one Assessing Officer to another within the same city. The respondents argued that no opportunity of hearing was required for such transfers as per sub-section (3) of section 127. However, the Court observed that while no hearing was necessary, the requirement of recording reasons as per sub-section (1) was not fulfilled in the impugned order. The order did not reflect any reasons for transferring the cases, thus not being in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1). Consequently, the Court held that the impugned order under sub-section (2) of section 127 was not valid and quashed it.

In conclusion, the petitions were allowed, and the impugned orders dated 1st October 2009 made under sub-section (2) of section 127 of the Act were quashed and set aside as they did not comply with the statutory requirements.

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