TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (10) TMI 1596
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....ri Chaman Lal Negi, to submit his remand reports in a manner which was unduly haste, reckless and without due diligence and application of mind. The third limb of the charge was that the applicant passed orders in the appeal by entertaining the remand reports, which were not channelized through the Addl./JCIT, who approved the original assessment orders. The fourth aspect was that the remand reports were based upon the remarks of a new incumbent Assessing Officer, and that without approval of the Addl. CIT. Lastly, it was alleged that the applicant ignored the various observations made by the Assessing Officer, who completed such assessment. The subject matter of appeal is said to be Rs.55,67,22,264/-. This OA is filed challenging the charge memorandum. 2. The applicant contends that the charge memo was issued in the year 2018, just before her case was to be considered for promotion to the post of Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCIT), and in the process, the appeal decided by her in the year 2013, was picked up. It is stated that the appeal was decided by her as a quasi judicial authority, and simply because the view taken by an Appellate Authority is not to the liking of the D....
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....ce of the CCIT, Patna, to the office of CIT (Appeals), for early disposal, and the applicant had also to take various measures to ensure appearance and participation of the appellant, and under these circumstances, the principal allegation that there was undue haste in disposal of the appeal, is factually is incorrect. He further submits that the allegation as to collusion of the applicant with Chaman Lal Negi, is in a way, irresponsible, and that will mar the morale of the officers at various stages. The learned counsel further submits that the allegations contained in various articles are in relation to the same case, and that the one pertaining to the time taken for passing the order, is also untenable. 7. He relied upon the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Zunjarrao Bhikaji Nagarkar v Union of India & others [(1999) 7 SCC 409]; Union of India & others v K. K. Dhawan [(1993) 2 SCC 56]; and Union of India & others v A. N. Saxena [(1992) 3 SCC124]; that of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in Union of India & others v Ajit Kumar Singh & others [WP(C) No.3209/2012, decided on 05.08.2013]; and of this Tribunal in S. Rajguru v Union of India [OA No.2815/2012, decided on 01.02....
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....he rise. Between the stage where the administrative authority passed an order, and the one, when it can be taken to the regular court of law, the corresponding law provides for adjudication of disputes by a quasi judicial authority. This is rampant in the field of direct and indirect taxation. The authority is to ensure that neither the assessee nor the State are put to a loss on account of long pendency of the adjudication before the regular courts. 12. It is but natural that the officer, who is entrusted with the quasi judicial functions, partakes the character of an administrator, and at the same time, an adjudicator. If he is subjected to the same control as in the case of an administrative officer, the very discharge of functions becomes redundant. If the quasi judicial authority has nothing more than to put a seal of approval on the decision taken by an administrative authority, the very purpose of providing the mechanism would stand defeated. A modicum of independence is required to be given to such authority. 13. Even while ensuring that a quasi judicial authority acts independently, he cannot be provided absolute immunity. If there exists adequate proof or material to di....
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....smissed in limine, and then he approached the Hon'ble Supreme Court. By undertaking extensive discussion on the proposition that a mere wrong interpretation cannot be treated as an act of misconduct, Their Lordships observed as under: "40. ....Of course it is a different matter altogether if it is deliberate and actuated by mala fides. 41. When penalty is not levied, the assessee certainly benefits. But it cannot be said that by not levying the penalty the officer has favoured the assessee or shown undue favour to him. There has to be some basis for the disciplinary authority to reach such a conclusion even prima facie. The record in the present case does not show if the disciplinary authority had any information within its possession from where it could form an opinion that the appellant showed "favour" to the assessee by not imposing the penalty. He may have wrongly exercised his jurisdiction. But that wrong can be corrected in appeal. That cannot always form a basis for initiating disciplinary proceedings against an officer while he is acting as a quasi-judicial authority. It must be kept in mind that being a quasi-judicial authority, he is always subject to judicial superv....
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....upreme Court in K. K. Dhawan and Zunjarrao Bhikaji Nagarkar's cases, apart from other judgments. 15. What becomes evident from the above discussion is that there is no prohibition as such against the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against an officer in relation to discharge of quasi judicial functions, but it must be with utmost care and caution. The mere existence of a view different from the one taken by the officer in the course of adjudication, by itself, cannot be treated as an act of misconduct. There must exist adequate material, even at the stage of issuance of charge memo, which discloses the existence of ulterior motive, or dishonest intention on the part of the officer in deciding the matter in a particular way. Therefore, we answer the first issue to the effect that the disciplinary authority in this case does have the power to initiate the disciplinary proceedings in relation to the discharge of quasi judicial functions by the applicant also, subject to the rider that there must exist adequate material, even at the stage of issuance of charge memo, to disclose that the power has been misused for wrongful gains. 16. Coming to the second issue, which is mostly ....
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....e case, to go through and/or examine the 572 pages of the Paper-books submitted by the A/R of the assessee, 247 pages of assessment orders and a number of issues therein involved in the appeals, voluminous cash books and ledgers for the seven assessment years 2003-04 to 2009-10 supposed to be contained in as many as 14 bags and then to submit his remand reports to her for all the seven different assessment years within a short span of those 4 days. She also did not give any specific directions to Shri Negi, the newly incumbent Assessing Officer who was unfamiliar with the case, in respect of examination and verification of books of accounts and vouchers etc. Smt. Anuradha Mookerjee had thus prompted Shri Negi to submit his remand reports in a manner which was unduly hasty, reckless and without due diligence and application of mind. By the aforesaid act of omission and commission, Smt. Anuradha Mookerjee failed to maintain absolute integrity and had shown complete lack of devotion to duty and had thus, exhibited conduct unbecoming of a Government servant in violation of Rules 3(1)(i), 3(1)(ii) and 3(1)(iii) of the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964. ARTICLE-III That the said officer, ....
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....mplete lack of devotion to duty and had thus, exhibited conduct unbecoming of a Government servant in violation of Rules 3(1)(i), 3(1)(ii) and 3(1)(iii) of the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964. ARTICLE-V That the said officer, Smt. Anuradha Mookerjee (Civil List No.86001, D.O.B.08.03.1961), while functioning as Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-I, Patna during the month of March, 2013 and while passing the Appellate Order in the case of one assessee M/s. Ganga Carriers Pvt. Ltd. (PAN : AABCG1850E), A.Ys 2003-04 to 2009-10, had ignored the express recording of the Assessing Officer, who had completed the search assessments in the case, about the non-genuineness of assessee's accounts and vouchers and readily accepted the hastily prepared remand reports, submitted by the succeeding Assessing Officer Shri Chaman Lal Negi, giving the assessee almost a clean chit. By the aforesaid act of omission and commission, Smt. Anuradha Mookerjee failed to maintain absolute integrity and had shown complete lack of devotion to duty and had thus, exhibited conduct unbecoming of a Government servant in violation of Rules 3(1)(i), 3(1)(ii) and 3(1)(iii) of the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964." 17. All t....
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....e may be instances where a quasi judicial authority picks up matters selectively, and out of turn, and grants relief, which is not permissible in law. In such cases, more than the extent of relief, the manner in which it was granted, becomes relevant. The very taking up of the appeal and the case, out of turn, may lead to an inference that it was done with a clear objective of conferring undue benefit on the assessee. In the instant case also, if the applicant had exhibited undue haste in taking up the appeal in question, the respondents can be said to be justified to certain extent. Therefore, it becomes necessary to refer to some undisputed documents, which are part of the record. 21. The appeal was pending since 2011, long before the applicant joined at Patna. On 30.11.2011 itself, the predecessor of the applicant received a letter from the office of CCIT, Patna (Annexure A-5), which reads as under: "Sub.: Request for early hearing - Reg. I am directed to forward herewith a copy of letter dated 17/11/2011 received from the Director, Ganga Carriers Pvt. Ltd., 314, Ashiana Towers, Exhibition Road, Patna-800 001 through which he has requested for early hearing and disposal of ....
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.... (B4B) CIT(A)-1, Patna + CIT(A) Muz. 43 340 0 0 In the light of above I am directed to inform you that the "High Demand Appeals" are the highest priority area for the CCIT as huge amount of revenue is blocked therein. In this respect I am further directed to request you to kindly ensure that orders in all the "High Demand Appeals" are passed by 15.03.2013 and that the orders are received by the A.Os. well in time so that the resulting demand may be collected or reduced as the case may be, within the current financial itself." 24. The appeal preferred by M/s GCPL was long pending, obviously because the predecessor of the applicant did not evince interest, or that the appellant itself was not cooperative. Taking note of the urgency explained by the superiors, i.e., CCIT, as well as the targets of disposal indicated in the correspondence, the applicant wanted to take up the hearing of the appeal of GCPL. From the letter dated 08.02.2013 (Annexure A-8), addressed by the applicant to the assessee, it becomes clear that M/s GCPL was not cooperating in disposal of the appeal. It reads as under: "Sub: Appeals before CIT(A)-1, Patna for A.Yrs. 2003-04 and 2008-09 - reg. Sir, ....
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.... occasions but your Authorized Representative has so far sought adjournment on 6 occasions on the ground that documents and information still have to be obtained from you. The concerned appeals involve a tax demand of over Rs.31.62 crores. These are high demand appeals requiring expeditious disposal. Further your request to get the concerned appeals heard and disposed off out of turn is not in line with your conduct so far, during the appellate proceedings. In view of the fact that sufficient opportunity has been provided to you to make your submissions in respect of the concerned appeals, a last and final opportunity is being provided to you to appear before the undersigned on 19.02.2013 at 11.30 AM failing which it shall be construed that you have nothing to say in the concerned matters and the appeals pending before me will be adjudicated on the basis of facts and findings, details and documents and other material in the possession of the Department." 25. With the efforts made by the applicant, the appeal could be taken up for hearing. Therefore, the very premise that the applicant had shown undue haste in deciding the appeal preferred by M/s GCPL, is without any basis and fact....
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....in order u/s 153C in A.Ys. 2005-06 to 2008-09 and 143(3) in A.Y. 2009-10 filed in this office on 13.03.2013 by the A.R. of the appellant in the above case. You are requested to comment on all the points raised by the A.R. of the appellant in the written submissions. Your remand report on the issues raised in the written submissions should reach the undersigned on or before 19.03.2013 positively as these are high demand appeals which are required to be disposed off immediately within this month." It is important to note that the letter was not addressed to Shri C. L. Negi, or to the Assessing Officer. A copy of the same was marked to the DGIT (Inv.), Patna, and CIT (Central), Patna, with a request to expedite the remand report. Obviously because the matter was being pursued long before that, the report was made available, and the applicant decided the appeal on 26.03.2013, after giving opportunity to both sides. 29. It, therefore, becomes clear that there was no correspondence between the applicant and Shri C. L. Negi in the context of procuring the remand reports. If this and the other steps, mentioned above, are taken into account, it becomes clear that what is stated in the c....