TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (6) TMI 682
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....respondents. 2. The instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner assailing the action on the part of the respondents in transferring the petitioner's file from the jurisdiction of respondent No. 2 to the jurisdiction of respondent Nos. 5 and 6. The petitioner is also aggrieved of the consequential order passed under Section 263 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short the 'Act') for the assessment year 2016-17, dated 29.03.2021, which again according to the petitioner is an order which has been passed hurriedly without there being sufficient proceedings and undue haste shown by the respondents in concluding the proceedings detrimental to the interest of the petitioner. 3. The fact....
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....e notice dated 11.02.2021 the petitioner has submitted his objections on 15.02.2021, however thereafter there has been no further progress intimated to the petitioner as regards the further developments on the transfer proceedings and also so far as the further hearings on transfer proceedings. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, abruptly the petitioner received an order passed under Section 263 of the Act dated 29.03.2021, through which the petitioner understood the respondents to have passed an order under Section 127 of the Act in between and only thereafter having passed the order under Section 263 of the Act. 6. Learned counsel for the petitioner has assailed these orders as has been discussed earlier on the ground ....
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....ing passed on 10.03.2021, and if that be so, Section 263 proceedings have been finalized in a span of just around 19 days which by itself would go to show that there was some undue haste shown on the part of the respondents in concluding the proceedings under Section 263 or at least after the orders under Section 127 having been passed, the proceedings under Section 263 has been hurriedly concluded and decided. 8. As regards the similar proceedings having been drawn in respect of the other assessment years pertaining to the same assessee, the learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the Department subsequently on its own had transferred it back to Hyderabad jurisdiction and as a consequence the similar writ petition that the pet....
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....here is no illegality or perversity on the part of the respondents in passing the order under Section 127 of the Act. 11. As regards the order under Section 263 of the Act is concerned, the learned Senior Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department was of the view that the writ petition is not maintainable on account of an alternative remedy available under the Income Tax Act. According to the learned Senior Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department given the fact that there was a statutory alternative remedy available, the petitioner ought to have availed the said statutory remedy rather than availing the writ remedy. According to the learned Senior Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department the writ remedy can be availed only when ther....
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....d in a hasty and hurriedly manner. 15. Be that as it may, there is yet another aspect which needs to be seriously considered i.e. the aforesaid two proceedings under Section 127 as also under Section 263 have been initiated during the peak COVID period, when the entire business operations across the country was at a standstill position or was working with the bare minimum workforce and that too, most of these operations were being carried out adopting the work from home policy. In the given circumstances, when there was a forceful restriction of movement across the country, it does not appear to be justified on the part of the respondents to have initiated the proceedings and thereafter proceed in a hasty and hurriedly manner in concludi....