TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (11) TMI 507
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....JUDGMENT SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA, C.J. 1. The Petitioner i.e. Environics Trust, challenges inter alia the order dated 19.04.2023 issued by the Respondent / Revenue Department under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the "IT Act") (the "Impugned Order") pursuant to a show cause notice ("SCN") issued under Section 148A(b) of the IT Act dated 29.03.2023 (the "Impugned SCN"); and the consequent reassessment notice dated 19.04.2023 issued by the Respondent under Section 148 of the IT Act (the "Impugned Notice") (hereinafter, the Impugned Order, Impugned SCN and the Impugned Notice are collectively referred to as the "Impugned Proceedings"). 2. The facts and arguments laid out by Ms. Suruchi Aggarwal, learned Senior Counsel appearing....
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....ng, Ministry of Home Affairs (the "Ministry") seeking inter alia information in relation to the foreign contributions received and utilized by the Petitioner under the FCRA. 2.5. In this context, it has been submitted that after a prolonged period of 6 (six) years, the Respondent issued the Impugned SCN to the Petitioner. Thereby it called upon the Petitioner to show-cause as to why a notice under Section 148 of the IT Act should not be issued to the Petitioner in relation to an alleged escaped assessment of income to the extent of INR 2,23,95,787 on account of a wrongful claim qua foreign contribution under Section 11 of the IT Act. 2.6. It is stated that vide a correspondence dated 10.04.2023, the Petitioner vehemently denied the allega....
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...., could not be extended qua the captioned Assessment Year ("AY") i.e., '16-17. 2.8. It has also been contended by Ms. Aggarwal that prior to a notice under Section 148A, the Assessing Officer ("AO") must have had information which suggested the escapement of tax. Reliance in this regard has been placed on a decision of the Madras High Court in Mathew Cherian (Dr.) v. ACIT (2022) 219 DTR 2. 2.9. Lastly, Ms. Aggarwal has drawn the attention of this Court to a decision dated 25.05.2023 in W.P (C) No. 7324 of 2023. It has been submitted that in a parallel case, this Court has entertained the aforementioned writ petition and accordingly, has also granted a stay qua the proceedings. 3. On the other hand, Shri Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor G....
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....aforesaid activities could not be construed to be activities in furtherance of the object of the Petitioner Trust and as a consequence, the exemption under Section 11 / Section 12 of the IT Act was wrongly availed. 3.3. Additionally, it was underscored before this Court the apparent divergent stance taken by the Petitioner Trust in relation to its object i.e., under the FCRA the Petitioner disclosed its object as 'social' whereas under its returns filed under the IT Act the object was disclosed as 'preservation of monuments or places or objects of artistic or historic interest'. In this regard, even before the AO, the Petitioner had conceded that divergent objects have been disclosed. Furthermore, no satisfactory response was provided by ....
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....its in bank accounts' form a part of the 'assets' of the Petitioner, and accordingly, in the considered opinion of this Court, the arguments advanced by the Petitioner qua the expiry of limitation in relation to the issuance of the Impugned Notice cannot be sustained as the income escaped assessment extends to a sum of INR 2,23,95,787 i.e., higher that the minimum threshold of INR 50,00,000 enshrined under Section 149 of the IT Act. Accordingly, the limitation vis-à-vis the initiation of reassessment proceedings in the case herein would resultantly extend to 10 (ten) years in light of the fact that the AO had in its possession inter alia books of accounts evidencing voluntary deposits in bank accounts extending to more than INR 50,00....
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....tributions escaped income for the purpose of assessment under the IT Act. 9. Lastly, it is a well settled position of law that an individual seeking to invoke the equitable jurisdiction of a High Court must approach this Court displaying bona fides. However, in the present case, the Petitioner has unquestionably suppressed material facts in relation to the cancellation of its registration under Section 12A, 12AA and 12AB of the IT Act. In this regard, the Supreme Court in Prestige Lights Ltd. observed as under: "35. It is well settled that a prerogative remedy is not a matter of course. In exercising extraordinary power, therefore, a writ court will indeed bear in mind the conduct of the party who is invoking such jurisdiction. If the ap....