TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (9) TMI 759
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....d void ab initio and to pass order quashing both the impugned Orders. 3. Petitioner filed its return of income for Assessment Year 2015- 2016 under Section 139(1)/(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act) on 30th September 2015 declaring loss of Rs.11,69,32,126/-. Petitioner also filed auditor's report in Form No. 3CEB in respect of international and domestic transactions entered into by petitioner with the Associate Enterprises (AE) as defined under Section 92A of the Act. 4. Petitioner's return of income was selected for scrutiny under CASS and respondent no. 2 issued notice dated 12th April 2016 under Section 143(2) of the Act. In view of the international transactions and domestic transactions with AE, respondent no. 2 referred petitioner's case to the Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO) under Section 92CA(1) of the Act. The TPO passed an order dated 30th October 2018 under Section 92CA(3) of the Act proposing an adjustment of Rs. 11,92,16,671/- to the reported international and domestic related parties transactions after working out Arms Length Price (ALP). After receiving the order of TPO, respondent no. 2 passed the draft assessment order dated 3rd December 2018 under Secti....
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....r 2019. 6. Mr. Padvekar submitted that : (a) Section 144C(2) of the Act provides that on receipt of the draft order, the eligible assessee shall, within thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order, either file his acceptance of the variations to the Assessing Officer or file his objections, if any, to such variation with the DRP and the Assessing Officer. The time to file the objections was until 2nd January 2019; (b) Section 144C(3) of the Act provides that the Assessing Officer shall complete the assessment on the basis of the draft order, if the assessee intimates to the Assessing Officer the acceptance of the variation or no objections are received within the period specified in sub-section 2, i.e., if no objections are received by 2nd January 2019. The Assessing Officer without waiting till 2nd January 2019 proceeds to pass the assessment order on 24th December 2018 which ex-facie is illegal; (c) Sub-section 4 of Section 144C of the Act provides for the Assessing Officer to pass the assessment order under sub-section 3 within one month from the end of the month in which the acceptance is received or the period of filing of objections unde....
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....judicial to the interest of such assessee. (2) On receipt of the draft order, the eligible assessee shall, within thirty days of the receipt by him of the draft order, - (a) file his acceptance of the variations to the Assessing Officer; or (b) file his objections, if any, to such variation with,- (i) the Dispute Resolution Panel; and (ii) the Assessing Officer. (3) The Assessing Officer shall complete the assessment on the basis of the draft order, if - (a) the assessee intimates to the Assessing Officer the acceptance of the variation; or (b) no objections are received within the period specified in sub-section (2). (4) The Assessing Officer shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 153[or section 153B], pass the assessment order under sub-section (3) within one month from the end of the month in which, - (a) the acceptance is received; or (b) the period of filing of objections under sub-section (2) expires. (5) The Dispute Resolution Panel shall, in a case where any objection is received under sub-section (2), issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the gui....
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....ed under sub-section (5), the Assessing Officer shall, in conformity with the directions, complete, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in section 153 [or Section 153B], the assessment without providing any further opportunity of being heard to the assessee, within one month from the end of the month in which such direction is received. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (15) For the purposes of this section, - (a) "Dispute Resolution Panel" means a collegium comprising of three [Principal Commissioners or] Commissioners of Incometax constituted by the Board for this purpose; (b) "eligible assessee" means, - (i) any person in whose case the variation referred to in subsection (1) arises as a consequence of the order of the Transfer Pricing Officer passed under sub-section (3) of section 92CA; and [(ii) any non-resident not being a company, or any foreign company.] 10. Section 144C(5) of the Act provides "the DRP shall, in a case where any objection is received under sub-section 2, issue such directions, as it thinks fit, for the guidance of the Assessing Officer to enable him to complete the assessment". Therefore, it is qui....
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....nding before the CIT (A) will naturally get allowed/the assessment order would get set aside. That would result in the Revenue not able to pass assessment order under Section 143(3) of the Act or even under Section 147 of the Act. The Rajasthan High Court in Sudesh Taneja V/s. ITO 442 ITR 289 held that (a) taxing statute must be interpreted strictly. Equity has no place in taxation. Nor while interpreting taxing statute intendment would have any place. (b) There is nothing unjust in the tax payer escaping if the letter of the law fails to catch him on account of the legislature's failure to express itself clearly. (c) It is axiomatic that taxation statute has to be interpreted strictly because the State cannot at their whims and fancies burden the citizens without authority of law. (d) In the matter of interpretation of charging section of a taxation statute, strict Rule of interpretation is mandatory and if there are two views possible in the matter of interpretation of a charging section, the one favourable to the assessee need to be applied. Paragraph 31(i) of Sudesh Taneja (Supra) reads as under : 31. We may now attempt to answer ....
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....ing Section of a taxation statute, strict Rule of interpretation is mandatory and if there are two views possible in the matter of interpretation of a charging section, the one favourable to the Assessee need to be applied. There is, however, confusion in the matter of interpretation of exemption notification published under taxation statutes and in this area also, the decisions are galore. 24. In construing penal statutes and taxation statutes, the Court has to apply strict Rule of interpretation. The penal statute which tends to deprive a person of right to life and liberty has to be given strict interpretation or else many innocent might become victims of discretionary decision making. Insofar as taxation statutes are concerned, Article 265 of the Constitution prohibits the State from extracting tax from the citizens without authority of law. It is axiomatic that taxation statute has to be interpreted strictly because the State cannot at their whims and fancies burden the citizens without authority of law. In other words, when the competent Legislature mandates taxing certain persons/certain objects in certain circumstances, it cannot be expanded/interpreted to include ....