High Court quashes tax orders for A.Y. 2009-10 & 2010-11, halts recovery. Assessing Officer's actions deemed unwarranted.

The High Court quashed and set aside separate assessment orders for A.Y. 2009-10 and 2010-11 and halted tax recovery. The Court emphasized that the Assessing Officer's actions were unwarranted as specific directions had been issued to the Tribunal to decide the appeals afresh. The Court held that the Assessing Officer's order, in defiance of the High Court's directive, was unsustainable. The Court directed the Tribunal to deal with the appeals in accordance with the law and did not award any costs to either party.

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Issues:
Petition to quash and set aside separate assessment orders for A.Y. 2009-10 and 2010-11 and halt tax recovery based on said orders.

Analysis:
The High Court heard the parties and decided to dispose of the writ petitions through a common order as the issues and submissions were common. The petitioner sought to quash and set aside separate assessment orders for A.Y. 2009-10 and 2010-11 and halt tax recovery based on those orders. The Senior Counsel for the petitioner referred to a previous order passed by the Court in Tax Appeal Nos. 79, 80, 81, and 82 of 2015, which directed the Tribunal to decide the appeals afresh after considering the parties' contentions. Despite this order, the Assessing Officer proceeded to dispose of the cases and issued demand notices for the assessed tax amount. The Court noted that the Assessing Officer's actions were unwarranted, as specific directions had been issued to the Tribunal to decide the appeals afresh. The Court emphasized that the Assessing Officer's order, in defiance of the High Court's directive, was unsustainable.

The Court clarified that the issue was not the availability of an appeal against the impugned orders but the Assessing Officer's disregard for the Court's directions to the Tribunal. The Court held that once specific directions had been issued by the High Court, they must be followed by all concerned parties to avoid conflicts and difficulties in passing further orders. The Court, therefore, quashed and set aside the impugned orders passed by the Assessing Officer and directed the Tribunal to deal with the appeals in accordance with the law. The Court left all contentions open for the parties and did not award any costs in this matter.

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