GOPAL SON OF SHRI NATHMAL vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER

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CW/7808/2022HC RajasthanRJHC02040854202215 July 2022Bench: MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA,SHUBHA MEHTA3 pages
AI SummaryDismissed

What did the High Court hold?

The High Court held that the question of whether the transactions, when taken together, exceeded Rs. 50 lacs, and the nature of these transactions, were essentially matters of factual inquiry. The Court found that the order under challenge was passed after giving the petitioner an opportunity of hearing and considering their reply, and thus did not suffer from procedural error. The adequacy or sufficiency of the reasons assigned by the authority was beyond the scope of interference unless perversity was established. Since the matter required factual inquiry, the Court refrained from commenting further and found no grounds for interference at that stage. The petitioner was granted liberty to raise all grounds, including those related to the transactions and the Rs. 50 lacs limit under Section 149, in further proceedings before the Assessing Authority. The petition was dismissed.

What were the facts?

The petitioner, Gopal, challenged an order dated 29.03.2022 passed by the Assessing Authority under Clause (d) of Section 148-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The petitioner argued that the total transactions, including deposits and withdrawals, did not exceed Rs. 50 lacs, which would render the reopening of the case under Section 148 of the Act barred. The Assessing Authority issued the notice under Section 148 because the petitioner had not filed a return for the financial year in which the transactions occurred, and the transactions were considered unexplained. The High Court noted that the nature and explanation of these transactions were matters of factual inquiry for the Assessing Authority.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the reopening of the assessment under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, is barred if the total transactions do not exceed Rs. 50 lacs, as contended by the petitioner? Assessee's Contention: The petitioner argued that if the aggregate of various deposit and withdrawal transactions did not exceed Rs. 50 lacs, the initiation of proceedings under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, would be legally barred. The petitioner submitted their version of the transactions to the authority. Revenue's Contention: The judgment does not explicitly record the revenue's specific arguments. However, it notes that the Assessing Authority found various transactions to be unexplained and that the petitioner had not filed a return for the relevant assessment year, leading to the issuance of the notice under Section 148.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 148-A,Section 148,Section 149

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 7808/2022 Gopal Son Of Shri Nathmal, Aged About 66 Years, Resident Of Ward No. 12, Tehsil Sikar, Sikar 332001. ----Petitioner Versus Income Tax Officer, Ward 1, Sikar Having Its Address At Todi Nagar, Sanwali Road, Sikar 332001. ----Respondent For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Siddharth Ranka, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Amit Malani, Advocate for Mr. Nikhil Simlote, Advocate HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SHUBHA MEHTA Judgment 15/07/2022 Heard. Assailing correctness and validity of the order dated 29.03.2022 passed by the Assessing Authority in exercise of powers under Clause (d) of Section 148-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, learned counsel for the petitioner would fervently urge before this Court to accept the version of the petitioner as submitted before the authority in the aforesaid proceedings that if various transactions of deposits, withdrawals are taken together, it would not exceed Rs.50 lacs and therefore, reopening of the case and initiation of the proceedings under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 itself would be barred. (Uploaded on 22/07/2022 at 04:31:11 PM) (Downloaded on 30/10/2026 at 10:01:34 AM) (2 of 3) [CW-7808/2022] From the notice, reply submitted by the petitioner and the impugned order which has been passed by the Assessing Authority, we find that the operative reason for the authority to proceed to issue notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is that there were various transactions and taking into consideration that the assessee had not filed return in the concerned assessment year relating to the financial year in which the transactions took place, it has opined that its a case of issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The dispute raised is with regard to the nature of transactions, which essentially would be the matter for inquiry by the Assessing Authority in further proceedings. Whether the transactions of redeposit are out of those which were already in the hands of the assessee or any other transactions, essentially is a matter of factual inquiry. The transactions by the assessee prima facie have been found to be unexplained, therefore, it will be for the petitioner to explain these transactions by leading appropriate evidence before the authority in proceeding under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and to satisfy that those transactions, even if taken together, do not exceed the upper limit of Rs.50 lacs, so as to remove the impediment under Section 149 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. In exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, once we are satisfied that the order does not suffer from any procedural error in the sense that the order has been passed after giving an opportunity of hearing (Uploaded on 22/07/2022 at 04:31:11 PM) (Downloaded on 30/10/2026 at 10:01:34 AM) (3 of 3) [CW-7808/2022] and consideration of reply, adequacy or sufficiency of the reasons assigned by the authority would be beyond the scope and ambit of interference except in the case of perversity. The matter would require inquiry on factual aspect, therefore, we refrain ourselves from commenting further in the matter except that at this stage no interference is warranted against the impugned order. With the liberty to the writ petitioner to raise all the grounds as raised in this case and any other grounds which are available to him to explain various transactions in further proceedings, we are inclined to dismissed the petition. The petition is accordingly dismissed. (SHUBHA MEHTA),J (MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA),J Mohita /5 Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) (Uploaded on 22/07/2022 at 04:31:11 PM) (Downloaded on 30/10/2026 at 10:01:34 AM)

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