Section 153C notice challenge rejected where recorded satisfaction was not disproved and objections could be raised in assessment proceedings.

At the notice stage under Section 153C of the Income-tax Act, writ interference was declined because the record did not conclusively show absence of recorded satisfaction before issuance of notice, and the assessee could raise objections in assessment proceedings. Non-furnishing of the satisfaction note at the outset, the alleged absence of incriminating material, and the challenge to jurisdiction were held insufficient on the facts shown to justify quashing the notices under Sections 153C and 142(1). The later supply of the satisfaction note and the availability of statutory remedies supported relegating the assessee to the Assessing Officer, with all permissible objections left open.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under Section 153C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the consequential notice under Section 142(1) could be interfered with on the ground that the satisfaction note was not furnished initially, no incriminating material was found, and the initiation of proceedings lacked jurisdiction.

Analysis: The challenge was founded on non-supply of the satisfaction note, alleged absence of incriminating material, and asserted lack of jurisdiction. The Court noted that the petitioner had not shown that no satisfaction note had been recorded by the Assessing Officer before issuance of the notice under Section 153C. It further held that although the satisfaction note was not initially furnished and the objection disposal communication was treated mechanically, the later service of the satisfaction note and the stage of the proceedings did not justify interference in writ jurisdiction. Reliance was placed on the principle that at the notice stage under Section 153C, the assessee should ordinarily be relegated to raise objections before the Assessing Officer and pursue statutory remedies, and that the CBDT instructions regarding recording of satisfaction are relevant but do not by themselves establish absence of jurisdiction on the facts shown.

Conclusion: The challenge to the notice under Section 153C and the consequential notice under Section 142(1) was not accepted, and the petitioner was left free to raise all permissible objections before the Assessing Officer during assessment.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions were finally disposed of without granting interference against the impugned tax proceedings, while preserving the petitioner's right to contest the assessment on all available grounds before the assessing authority.

Ratio Decidendi: In proceedings under Section 153C of the Income-tax Act, 1961, writ interference at the notice stage is ordinarily unwarranted where the record does not conclusively show absence of recorded satisfaction, and the assessee can raise the objection in the assessment proceedings.

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