TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (7) TMI 161
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....red to by their designation. 3. To appreciate the rival submissions, it may be necessary to give a thumbnail sketch of the undisputed facts: 3.1 There are three V.V. Minerals referred to in the order passed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Madurai, impugned in the writ petition, with each having a distinct Permanent Account Number (PAN). Ergo, we designate them as follows: 1. V.V. Minerals No.1 (PAN AAGFS5361Q) 2. V.V. Minerals No.2 (PAN AAHFV2400N) 3. V.V. Minerals No.3 (PAN AACFV2265L). 3.2 Apart from the above three V.V. Minerals, the other juristic persons referred to in the order impugned in the writ petition, are as under: 1. V.V. Titanium Pigments Pvt. Ltd. (PAN AADCV7723P) 2. V.V. Marine Products (PAN AALFV2122R) 3. Shree Sanghvi Mills Pvt. Ltd. (PAN AAECS5431N) 4. V.V. Mart (PAN AAHFV2398H) 5. Ajax Media Tech Pvt. Ltd. (PAN AANCA0470G) 3.3 Thus, there are eight juristic persons and apart from them, there are the following 12 natural persons with individual PANs: 1. S. Vaikundarajan (PAN ABEPV0032E) 2. S. Jegatheesan (PAN ABXPJ7672F) 3. J. Subburajan (P....
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....tral Circle-2, Madurai under Section 127 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The reason for the proposed transfer is that detailed, coordinated and centralized investigation is necessary." 3.10 In response to the aforesaid notice, V.V. Minerals No.2 addressed a letter dated 31.01.2019 asking for the relevant supporting documents to justify the transfer, besides seeking 30 days' time to submit their reply. 3.11 The Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Madurai, sent a communication dated 11.02.2019 to V.V. Minerals No.2, fixing the date of hearing as 18.02.2019 at 4.30 p.m., in the Income Tax office, Madurai. 3.12 V.V. Minerals No.2 followed it up with a letter dated 16.02.2019 once again reiterating that they have not been furnished with the relevant documents for justifying the transfer of their case from Tirunelveli to Madurai. 3.13 Personal hearing was afforded to the assessees on 18.02.2019 at 4.30 p.m. The assessees took a stand that their Chartered Accountant is stationed at Tirunelveli and that he is 85 years old and therefore, it will cause hardship for them if their cases are transferred to Madurai. 3.14 The Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Madurai,....
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....ntra-Court appeal for having the stay order dated 16.03.2020 vacated. When the vacate stay petition came up for hearing before another Division Bench on 01.06.2020, adjournment was sought by V.V. Minerals No.2, but, the learned counsel for the Income Tax Department strongly objected for grant of adjournment. Recording the objection so made by the learned counsel for the Income Tax Department, the Division Bench ordered as under: "2. Having regard to the practical difficulties expressed by the learned counsel appearing for the respondent, this Court is inclined to adjourn the matter to 15.06.2020. It is made clear to the learned counsel for the respondent that he or his Senior Counsel engaged by him must be ready to argue the main case on 15.06.2020 either by making physical appearance or through Video Conference. In case, the learned counsel for the respondent is unable to bring his Senior Counsel from Chennai to Madurai, he should inform the Registry earlier, so that the matter will be listed for hearing through Video Conference. 3. The interim order granted earlier is extended till then." (emphasis supplied) 8. The matter was not listed on 15.06.2020, but,....
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....828 of 2015 decided on 25.02.2016, wherein, it has been held that a show cause notice should contain reasons for transfer, so that the assessee is in a position to give an effective representation to it. He placed further reliance upon the Division Bench judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Vijayasanthi Investments Pvt. Ltd. vs. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and Others (1991) 187 ITR 405 and the judgment of the High Court of Calcutta in Chotanagpur Industrial Gases (P) Ltd. and others vs. Commissioner of Income Tax and others (1998) 233 ITR 377 (Cal) . 12. This Court gave its careful thought and anxious consideration to the rival submissions. 13. It is an admitted fact that the road distance between Tirunelveli and Madurai is just 158 kms. V.V. Minerals and their associates were being assessed by the Tirunelveli Circle. Searches were conducted from 25.10.2018 to 24.12.2018 and huge materials were seized. According to the Income Tax Department, from 25.10.2018, searches were conducted in 63 premises spread across various parts of Tamil Nadu and also in other parts of the country relating to V.V.Minerals and the Department has unearthed undisclosed income to t....
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....administrative convenience" and "coordinated investigation", are not reflected in the show cause notice and therefore, in our opinion, the assessees were denied of a reasonable opportunity of hearing a envisaged by law. In our view, the principles of natural justice have to be complied at every stage and violation at the initial stage cannot be cured through additional reasons incorporated in the final order." (emphasis supplied) 18. From the above judgment, it can be inferred that a show cause notice should disclose the reason or the gist thereof, which was absent in the said case. Whereas, in the case on hand, the show cause notice has spelt out the reasons for the proposed transfer of the cases. Whether the reasons so given are sufficient or insufficient, cannot be the subject matter of judicial review. To be noted, this is not a case of preventive detention, where, the personal liberty of a person is sought to be stifled by keeping him in custody. This is a case where the assessment files are being transferred from one city to a neighbouring city hardly 158 kms. away, in the same State. What inconvenience can this cause to V.V. Minerals No.2, especially when they have busine....
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....Madurai, had not applied his mind independently. A reading of the transfer order shows that the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Madurai, has approved the proposal vide letter dated 21.01.2019 and thereafter, the show cause notice under Section 127(2), ibid., was issued on 28.01.2019. This Court does not find any reason whatsoever to infer that the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Madurai, had blindly towed the line of the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), as contended by Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan. 23. It is the case of V.V. Minerals No.2 that they have not been supplied with the documents for effectively giving reply to the show cause notice dated 28.01.2019 issued under Section 127 of the IT Act. It is indeed hard to fathom for this Court as to what documents V.V. Minerals No.2 want from the Department. If they want search and seizure documents, that cannot be furnished to them in a proceedings under Section 127 of the IT Act. Yet another grievance of V.V. Minerals No.2 is that their Chartered Accountant is a very elderly person domiciled in Tirunelveli and that he will find it difficult to come to Madurai. This grievance is also imaginary, because, the Income ....