M/S NAGINDAS KASTURCHAND AND BROS. vs. PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX 3, AHMEDABAD

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SCA/16651/2021HC GujaratGJHC24058137202130 August 2022Bench: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA,HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA3 pages
AI SummaryDismissed

What did the High Court hold?

The High Court held that the present petition was misconceived and not liable to be entertained as it was a repetition of a challenge to an order that had already been set aside. The court observed that the order dated 11.4.2022 passed in Special Civil Application No. 16529 of 2021, which quashed the impugned order of transfer and all consequential proceedings, would also apply to succeeding assessment orders passed in the case of the petitioner, irrespective of the assessment year. Therefore, the submission of the petitioner that the present case concerned a different assessment year was considered misdirected. The petition was disposed of with these observations.

What were the facts?

The petitioner, M/s Nagindas Kasturchand and Bros., filed a Special Civil Application challenging an order dated 8.7.2021 passed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax under Section 127(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The petitioner argued that this order was passed without jurisdiction. The High Court noted that the same petitioner had previously challenged an identical order dated 8.7.2021 in another Special Civil Application (No. 16529 of 2021). That earlier petition was allowed by a Division Bench of the High Court on 11.4.2022, quashing the impugned order and consequential proceedings. The petitioner contended that the present petition concerned assessment year 2019-2020, while the previous one related to assessment year 2018-2019.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the present Special Civil Application challenging the order dated 8.7.2021 passed under Section 127(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, is maintainable when a similar order for the same petitioner was already quashed by a Division Bench of this Court in a previous writ petition. (Question of law and fact turning on Section 127(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961). Assessee's Contention: The petitioner argued that the present petition pertains to assessment year 2019-2020, whereas the previously decided case involved assessment year 2018-2019, implying a distinction that should allow the current petition. Revenue's Contention: The judgment does not record specific arguments from the revenue in this particular petition, but the court's reasoning implies the revenue would likely argue for dismissal based on the prior judgment.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 127(2)

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

C/SCA/16651/2021 ORDER DATED: 30/08/2022 IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 16651 of 2021 ========================================================== M/S NAGINDAS KASTURCHAND AND BROS. Versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX 3, AHMEDABAD ========================================================== Appearance: MR. K.M.PARIKH, ADV., KULDEEP K ADESARA(9222) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1 MR. M.R.BHATT, SR. ADV. WITH KARAN SANGHANI, ADV. FOR M R BHATT & CO.(5953) for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2,3 MS MAITHILI D MEHTA(3206) for the Respondent(s) No. 2 ========================================================== CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA

Date : 30/08/2022

ORAL ORDER (PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA) Heard learned advocate Mr. K. M. Parikh for the petitioner and learned senior advocate Mr. M. R. Bhatt with learned Mr. Karan Sanghani for M.R.Bhatt & Co. for the respondents. 2. The only principal prayer in this petition is for quashing and setting aside impugned order dated 8.7.2021 passed by respondent no.1 under section 127(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 3. In course of hearing, it was noticed that the very order impugned in this petition was subject matter of challenge before the Division Bench of this court in the case of very petitioner M/s. Nagindas Kasturchand and Bros. vs. Principal Commissioner of Income Tax 3, Ahmedabad in Page 1 of 3

C/SCA/16651/2021 ORDER DATED: 30/08/2022 Special Civil Application No. 16529 of 2021, which came to be allowed by judgment dated 11.4.2022. 3.1 The operative portion of the said judgment reads as under, “48. In view of the aforesaid, we have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the impugned order of transfer and all the consequential proceedings pursuant thereto could be said to be without jurisdiction. 49. In the result, this writ-application succeeds and is hereby allowed. The impugned order of transfer dated 8th July 2021 passed under Section 127(2) of the Act qua the writ-applicant is hereby quashed and set-aside. Consequently, the assessment order dated 28th September 2021 also stands quashed and setaside. 50. In view of the order passed in the main matter, the Civil Application stands disposed of. 51. We reserve the liberty in favour of the Revenue to initiate fresh proceedings for transfer under Section 127 of the Act by first issuing a show-cause notice assigning reasons, thereby giving an opportunity of hearing to the writ-applicant and thereafter proceed to pass a final order in accordance with law.” 3.2 It is abundantly clearly that the very order dated 8.7.2022 brought under challenge in this subsequent petition is already quashed. Therefore, the present petition is misconceived and is not liable to be entertained as it is a repetition of challenge of the order which is already set aside. 4. Learned advocate for the petitioner, however, submitted that the decision in Special Civil Application No. 16529 of 2021 was in the context of order of assessment passed against the petitioner assessee in respect of assessment year 2018-2019, whereas in the present case, assessment year under consideration is 2019-2020. Page 2 of 3

C/SCA/16651/2021 ORDER DATED: 30/08/2022 5. The above submission of learned advocate for the petitioner is misdirected. 6. The court is of the view that the order dated 11.4.2022 passed in Special Civil Application No. 16529 of 2021 will also apply to the succeeding assessment orders passed in the case of the petitioner. 7. The petition is disposed of with the above observations. (N.V.ANJARIA, J) (BHARGAV D. KARIA, J) C.M. JOSHI Page 3 of 3

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