TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (11) TMI 830
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....ory remedy by way of an appeal under Section 246 (1) of the Act of 1961 and for that reason the writ petitions do not deserve to be entertained. 2. Before considering the preliminary objection as raised, we may refer to certain relevant aspects. According to the petitioners Writ Petition No.4141 of 2022 can be considered as the lead petition since the pleadings of the parties therein are complete. With regard to the Assessment Year 2015-16 a notice under Section 148 of the Act of 1961 dated 29.03.2021 was issued to the petitioner by the Income Tax Officer in which it was stated that he had reasons to believe that the income chargeable to tax for the Assessment Year 2015-16 had escaped assessment within the meaning of Section 147 of the Act of 1961. It was therefore proposed to assess/reassess the income/loss for the said Assessment Year. The petitioner was thus called upon to deliver a return in the prescribed form for the said assessment year. Accordingly the petitioner submitted his return on 22.01.2022. On 27.01.2022 a notice was issued to the petitioner under Section 143(2) read with Section 147 of the Act of 1961. As per annexures to the said notice the reasons for re-openi....
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.... Society. It was further stated that there was no supporting evidence in support of the statements made in the show cause notice. 4. On 25.03.2022 an assessment order under Section 147 read with Section 144B of the Act of 1961 came to be passed. In the said order it was stated that the source of cash deposited which was Rs.8,41,93,228/- had remained unexplained. The stand of the petitioner that the transactions made through his bank account were without his knowledge was not accepted. The reply of the petitioner was found to be not acceptable. Accordingly the total income of the petitioner came to be assessed at Rs.8,45,05,360/- and it was directed to issue a demand notice as well as a penalty notice under Section 271 (1)(c) of the Act of 1961. Consequentially a notice for penalty was issued on the same day. The order of assessment as passed is under challenge in these writ petitions. 5. Shri Ram Heda, learned counsel for the petitioners submitted the respondents had no authority to re-open the assessment under Section 148 of the Act of 1961 for the reasons for which it was sought to be re-opened. According to him, since the re-opening of the assessment was pursuant to the se....
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....Writ Petition No.2948 of 2021 (Nagpur Bench) (Murli Industries Limited Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax and others) with connected writ petition decided on 23.12.2021 and the judgment of the Gurjarat High Court in R/Special Civil Application No.17557 of 2018 [Heval Navinbhai Patel C/o Ketan H Shah Vs. Income Tax Officer Ward 3(2)(2)] with connected civil application decided on 01.02.2021. Since there was no dispute on any factual aspects and as the jurisdiction had been wrongly assumed under Section 148 of the Act of 1961, the writ petitions were liable to be entertained on merits. The learned counsel also referred to the Notification dated 17.09.2020 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to all the Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax as regards the procedure to be followed in the matter of search and seizure. The re-opening was contrary to the aforesaid procedure. It was thus prayed that the impugned orders of assessment be set aside as without jurisdiction. 6. Shri Anand Parchure, learned counsel for the respondents opposed the writ petitions by urging that an efficacious statutory remedy was available to the petitioners for being invoked. The remedy of a....
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....tated that search and seizure action was carried out in the case of M/s. Renuka Mata Multi-State Urban Co-operative Credit Society Limited on 26.05.2017. It was found that huge money was deposited in the account maintained in the Society and during the course of assessment, the Society could not explain the source for the same. Thereafter during the course of assessment proceedings by the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax certain data was collected. On verification, the Assessment Officer provided information of the persons in whose accounts held with M/s. Renuka Mata Multi-State Urban Co-operative Credit Society Limited large credits were seen. The petitioner is one of the depositors having account with the said Society. It is on the basis of this information received and enquiries made that there was reason to believe that there had been escapement of income. After obtaining necessary sanction under Section 151 of the Act of 1961, the said notice under Section 148 of the Act of 1961 came to be issued. 8. According to the petitioners, there was no jurisdiction to re-open the assessment under Section 148 of the Act of 1961. Since the re-opening was pursuant to the search and sei....
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....nt have specifically asserted that they have proceeded to re-open the assessment in the light of the information uploaded on Insight Portal. The same is quoted to be a reason to believe that the income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. It has also been asserted that the Income Tax Officer has not received any books of account or documents or assets seized or requisitioned during the search at M/s. Renuka Mata Multi-State Urban Co-operative Credit Society Limited in the case of the petitioner. We therefore find that it would necessary for the petitioners to contest and challenge the assessment orders on merits so as to substantiate the stand that the re-opening of the proceedings under Section 147 of the Act of 1961 was not at all justified and thus without jurisdiction. 9. Another relevant aspect to be considered is that in reply to the show cause notice the petitioners did not seek to challenge the re-opening on the ground that it was without jurisdiction since the assessment was not sought to be re-opened in the light of Section 153C of the Act of 1961. Having responded to the show cause notice and having contested the same, the petitioners have permitted the orders of....