INTELSAT GLOBAL SALES AND MARKETING LIMITED vs. THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PANEL-1, NEW DELHI & ANR.

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W.P.(C)/6698/2022HC DelhiDLHC01016229202228 April 2022Bench: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANMOHAN,HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SHARMA3 pages
AI SummaryRemanded

What did the High Court hold?

The Delhi High Court held that the petitioner has a right to challenge the final assessment order before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). The Court was of the view that the issue raised by the petitioner in the writ petition could be adjudicated by the ITAT if the petitioner is aggrieved by the ultimate assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer. Therefore, the Court reserved the petitioner's right to challenge the impugned direction passed by the DRP. The writ petition was disposed of with this observation, without deciding the merits of the petitioner's contention regarding the DRP's delegation of work.

What were the facts?

The petitioner, Intelsat Global Sales and Marketing Limited, filed a writ petition challenging an order dated March 8, 2022, issued under Section 143(3) read with Section 144C(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for Assessment Year 2018-19. The petitioner had filed objections to a draft assessment order dated August 2, 2021. The Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP), Respondent No. 1, directed Respondent No. 2, the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, to verify the petitioner's eligibility for claiming expenditure attributable to income from business connection in India taxable under the Force of Attraction Rule, by passing a speaking order. The petitioner contended that the DRP improperly delegated this verification work to the Assessing Officer, contrary to Section 144C(8) of the Act.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP), under Section 144C(8) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, can delegate the work of conducting an enquiry for finalizing an assessment to the Assessing Officer? Assessee's Contentions: - The petitioner argued that Section 144C(8) of the Act prohibits the DRP from delegating the task of conducting an enquiry for finalizing the assessment. - It was contended that the Assessing Officer, as per Section 144C(13), is merely to formulate the assessment based on the DRP's directions under Section 144C(5). - The petitioner asserted that Respondent No. 1 (DRP) acted contrary to law by setting aside an issue to Respondent No. 2 (Assessing Officer) for further enquiry/verification. Revenue's Contentions: - The judgment does not record any specific contentions made by the revenue.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 143(3),Section 144C(1),Section 144C(8),Section 144C(13),Section 144C(5)

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

$~91 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 6698/2022 INTELSAT GLOBAL SALES AND MARKETING LIMITED ..... Petitioner Through: Mr.Vishal Kalra, Advocate. versus THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PANEL-1, NEW DELHI & ANR. ..... Respondents Through: Mr.Zoheb Hossain, senior standing counsel with Mr.Vipul Agrawal and Mr.Parth Semwal, Advocates. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANMOHAN HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD O R D E R % 28.04.2022 Present writ petition has been filed challenging the impugned order/directions dated 08th March, 2022 issued under section 143(3) read with Section 144C(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) for the Assessment Year 2018-19. Petitioner also seeks a direction to restrain Respondent No.2 from giving effect to and/or taking any step whatsoever pursuant to the impugned order. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 17/06/2026 at 11:52:30

Learned counsel for the Petitioner states the Petitioner filed its objections to the draft assessment order dated 02nd August, 2021 under Section 143(3) read with section 144C(l) of the Act. He states that the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) directed Respondent No. 2, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (International Taxation), Circle- 2(1)(1), New Delhi to verify if the Petitioner is eligible to claim any expenditure attributable to earning of 25% of income from business connection in India and taxable in India under Force of Attraction Rule by passing a speaking order in this regard. Learned counsel for the Petitioner states that as per the provisions of Section 144C of the Act, it is the DRP/Respondent No. 1, which has to deal with all the objections/documentary evidence filed and then pass a speaking order for completion of assessment. He states that sub-section (8) of Section 144C of the Act clearly prohibits the DRP to delegate the work of conducting enquiry for the purposes of finalizing assessment. He points out that the Assessing Officer, in view of sub-section (8) read with Section (13) of Section 144C of the Act, has to merely formulate the assessment in light of the directions received from the DRP under sub-section (5) of Section 144C of the Act. He states that respondent No.1, by setting aside an issue to the file of the respondent No.2 for further enquiry/verification, has acted contrary to law. In the opinion of this Court, the Petitioner has a right to challenge the final assessment order before the ITAT. This Court is of the view that the issue flagged by the Petitioner in the present writ petition can certainly be adjudicated by the ITAT, if the Petitioner is aggrieved by the ultimate assessment order to be passed by the Assessing Officer. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 17/06/2026 at 11:52:30

Reserving the right of the Petitioner to challenge the impugned direction passed by DRP, the present writ petition stands disposed of. MANMOHAN, J SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, J APRIL 28, 2022 KA This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 17/06/2026 at 11:52:30

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