TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (11) TMI 702
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.... under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Briefly, the petition challenges an order dated 30th March 2024 passed by respondent No. 1 ("impugned order" for short). By the said order, the application filed by the petitioner dated 9th November 2022 seeking waiver of interest charged under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 ("Income Tax Act" for short) for the Assessment Year 2021-22 ("A. Y. Year 2021-22" for short) stood rejected. The reliefs/prayers in the petition are set out at pages 52 to 54 in para 12 thereof. The substantive relief/prayer is to quash and set aside the impugned order passed by respondent No. 1 and to grant waiver of interest for an amount of Rs. 3,88,59,353/- charged under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act. ....
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....r. The aforesaid details reveal that the petitioner has paid total Advance Tax of Rs. 1,71,00,00,000/-. The total interest paid by the petitioner is an amount of Rs. 3,88,59,353/- at the time of filing of returns for the said assessment year (A.Y. 2021-22). B. Rival Submissions:- 6. Mr. Gandhi, learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn our attention to the petitioner's application for waiver of interest dated 9th November 2022 filed for waiver of interest chargeable under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act. In support thereof, he submits that the Assessee diligently paid Advance Tax installments for the quarters commencing April to June 2020 to January to March 2021, amounting to Rs. 1,71,00,00,000/- as noted hereinabove. He submits t....
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....34C of the Income Tax Act, being the provision which is relied on behalf of the petitioner in the present case. 10. In support of the above submission, Mr. Gandhi has placed reliance on a press note dated 21st May 1996 alongwith instructions/order F No. 400/129/2002 dated 26th June 2006. In this regard, he submits that the said order/instructions envisage waiver of interest in certain circumstances stipulated in the order/instructions (supra). He has contended that the Chief Commissioners, by way of such delegated legislation were authorised to reduce or waive interest under Section 234C which was aimed at mitigating the hardship to the Assessee in deserving cases subject to certain conditions stipulated in such instructions. He submits th....
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.... the Karnataka High Court in the case of Bosch Limited vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax-LTU Bangalore 2016 65 taxmann.com; 170 (Karnataka), in Writ Petition No. 2705 of 2015 dated 15th October 2015 to contend that this decision dealt with a similar issue on waiver of interest charged under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act referring to paragraph 2 (b) of the Notification dated 26th June 2006. He submitted that this decision is applicable to the facts of the present case. He would submit that on similar reasons, as held by the Karnataka High Court in the said case, the impugned order in the present case ought to be quashed and set aside and the petitioner ought to be granted waiver of interest as prayed for. 14. On the other hand, ....
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....nt No. 1 would indicate that the petitioner has set out several reasons to justify its prayer for waiver of interest, elaborated in paragraph 3 of the said application. The thrust being the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which prevented the petitioner from correctly/properly estimating the income/book profits for paying the Advance Tax for the A.Y. 2021-22. It is stated that the pandemic brought about severe financial constraints and adverse impact on the petitioner's overall earnings and its revenue. It is also stated that even the World Health Organization ("WHO" for short) recognised the COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis of the century. The said application places reliance on certain decisions including that of Bosch Ltd vs. ACIT (....