2021 (8) TMI 1291

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....the present petition is to the assessment order passed pursuant to the provisions for Faceless Assessment. The ground of challenge is a short one viz., that despite the Petitioner requesting for a personal hearing in terms of Section 144B(7)(vii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the impugned assessment order was passed without affording such a hearing. 3. Counsel for the Petitioner places reliance on the judgment dated 27th May, 2021 of the high Court of Delhi in W.P.(C) No.5537 of 2021 (Ritnand Balved Education Foundation v. National Faceless Assessment Centre) where, in similar circumstances, the Delhi High Court issued a mandamus to the Department to afford a personal hearing to the Petitioner in that case. 4. Issue notice.....

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....n the matter well. Copy of the reply dated 26/04/2021 along with positive testing report of COVID 19 are filed herewith as ANNEXURE-7 series." 3. In the counter affidavit filed on behalf of Opposite Party Nos.1 to 5 in para 9, it is stated as under: "That the averment made by the petitioner in paragraph- 4 of the Writ Petition, needs no comments as it is general information in nature on the facts of the case as narrated by the petitioner." 4. In other words, there is no denial of the Petitioner's averment that it sought for a hearing. 5. The requirement for providing such hearing in terms of Section 144 B (7) (vii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 ('Act') is not merely directory, but a mandatory one. It reads as under:....