TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (6) TMI 1039
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.... the Assessment Year 2016-17 at Annexure 'A'; B. Pending the admission, hearing and final disposal of this petition, to stay implementation and operation of the notice at Annexure A to this petition and stay further procedure for assessment and recovery for A.Y. 2016- 17; C. any other and further relief deemed just and proper be granted in the interest of justice; D. to provide for the costs of this petition;" 3. Heard, learned Advocate, Mr. Soparkar, appearing for the petitioner and learned Advocate, Mr. Sangani, appearing with learned Advocate, Ms. Raval, for the Respondent. 4. Learned Advocate, Mr. Soparkar, appearing for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is a private limited company and its majority of the ultimate shareholders are the individuals, who are the citizens of India. 4.1 It was submitted that this Court vide order dated 28.01.2016, approved the scheme of amalgamation of one Panchdhara Agro Farms Pvt. Ltd. with the petitioner-Company, i.e. Shantigram Estate Management Pvt. Ltd. with effect from 01.04.2015, i.e. the appointed date. 4.2 It was pointed out from the record that the petitioner informed the concerned Assess....
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.....01.2016. 7.1 From the record, it also emerges that pursuant to the above, the petitioner had also intimated the concerned assessing officer of the respondent about the same vide communication dated 31.03.2016. A copy of the same is produced at Page-13 to the compilation. In spite of the same, a notice, under Section 148 of the Act, came to be issued to the erstwhile Panchdhara Agro Farms Pvt. Ltd.. 7.2 In above view of the matter, it would be relevant to refer to the observations made by this Court in 'ADANI WILMAR LTD.' (Supra), wherein, after referring to the decision of the Apex Court 'PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX VS. MARUTI SUZUKI LTD.' in (Supra), this Court observed as under at Paragraphs-5 and 6, thereof; "5. It is urged before this Court that this group of other such matters in relation to the another company - Kunvarji Fincorp Pvt. Ltd. for other assessment years have been decided in Special Civil Application No.935 of 2022 and allied matters on 06.02.2023 and on the reasoning mutatis mutandis applied to case of the present matter, where the Court has referred order passed in Special Civil Application No.903 of 2022 dated 16.01.2023 and reproduced r....
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....ourt and thus, it had ceased to have its own existence so as to render it amenable for the reassessment proceedings under the provisions of section 147 of the Act. Moreover, the respondent and the department were duly informed by the petitioner about the amalgamation and despite the said factum having been brought to the notice of the respondent, statutory notice under section 148 came to be issued to Gayatri Integrated Services Private Limited for reopening the assessment on the ground that the respondent has reason to believe that income chargeable to tax for the assessment year 2012-13 has escaped the assessment within the meaning of section 147 of the Act. 9. The controversy in the present petition, is no longer res integra. The Apex Court in the case of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax vs. Maruti Suzuki India Limited (supra), in paragraph 33, has categorically held that if the company has ceased to exist as a result of the approved scheme of amalgamation then in that case, the jurisdictional notice issued in its name would be fundamentally illegal and without jurisdiction. It is also held that upon the amalgamating entity ceasing to exist, it cannot be regarded as....
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.... and Managing Director of the group. A return was filed, pursuant to notice, which also suppressed the factum of amalgamation; on the contrary, the return was filed by MRPL - the company which has ceased to be in existence, and yet, the appeals were filed on behalf of it before the Commissioner and a cross appeal was filed before the Tribunal. An affidavit before the court was also on behalf of the Director of MRPL and the assessment order had attributed the specific amounts surrendered by MRPL and that too, after considering the special auditor's report, bringing specific amounts to tax in the search assessment order. 14. All these according to the Court indicated that the order adopted a particular method of expressing the liability and it opined that the conduct of the assessee commencing from the date the search took place, and before all forums, reflected that it consistently held itself out as the assessee. It was held that the corporate death of an entity upon amalgamation per-se invalidate the assessment order ordinarily cannot be determined on a bare application of Section 481 of the Companies Act, but, would depend on the terms of the amalgamation and the facts o....
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....ectations. There is a significant value which must attach to observing the requirement of consistency and certainty. Individual affairs are conducted and business decisions are made in the expectation of consistency, uniformity and certainty. To detract from those principles is neither expedient nor desirable." 32. The court, undoubtedly noticed Saraswati Syndicate Further, the judgment in Spice (supra) and other line of decisions, culminating in this court's order, approving those judgments, was also noticed. Yet, the legislative change, by way of introduction of Section 2(1A), defining "amalgamation" was not taken into account. Further, the tax treatment in the various provisions of the Act were not brought to the notice of this court, in the previous decisions. 33. There is no doubt that MRPL amalgamated with MIPL and ceased to exist thereafter; this is an established fact and not in contention. The respondent has relied upon Spice and Maruti Suzuki (supra) to contend that the notice issued in the name of the amalgamating company is void and illegal. The facts of present case, however, can be distinguished from the facts in Spice and Maruti Suzuki on the follow....