SHIVALI CREDIT CO OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER

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WP/13630/2024HC KarnatakaKAHC01023206202407 August 2024Bench: S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR6 pages
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What did the High Court hold?

The High Court, without expressing any opinion on the merits or demerits of the rival contentions, acknowledged the petitioner's specific assertion that they did not produce all relevant documents due to their unavailability at the time of filing the reply under Section 148A(b). Consequently, the Court deemed it just and appropriate to set aside the impugned notices and orders (Annexures-A1 to A6) and remit the matter back to the respondents for reconsideration. The matter was remitted to the stage of Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act. The petitioner was directed to submit a reply along with documents within one month, and the respondents were directed to consider the reply, provide an opportunity to the petitioner, and proceed further in accordance with the law. The writ petition was allowed.

What were the facts?

The petitioner, Shivali Credit Co Operative Society Limited, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Karnataka challenging various notices and orders issued by the Income Tax Department for Assessment Year 2019-20. These included a notice under Section 148A(b) dated 06.02.2023, an order under Section 148A(d) dated 21.03.2023, a notice under Section 148 dated 24.03.2023, an order under Section 147 r.w.s 144 dated 31.01.2024, penalty notices under Section 271AAC(1) and Section 272A(1)(d) both dated 31.01.2024, and an order under Section 151 dated 17.03.2023. The petitioner contended that they did not have sufficient material on record when they submitted a tentative reply to the Section 148A(b) notice and were not given a reasonable opportunity to respond.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the notice under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, dated 06.02.2023, and the subsequent proceedings, including the order under Section 148A(d) and the notice under Section 148, were issued without providing a sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the petitioner to respond, considering the petitioner's assertion of non-availability of documents at the time of reply. Assessee's Contention: The petitioner argued that due to the non-availability of sufficient material, they submitted a tentative reply to the Section 148A(b) notice. The respondent proceeded to pass the impugned order without providing a sufficient and reasonable opportunity. The petitioner relied on the principle of natural justice. Revenue's Contention: The revenue contended that there was no merit in the petition and it was liable to be dismissed.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 148A(b),Section 148A(d),Section 148,Section 147,Section 144,Section 271AAC(1),Section 272A(1)(d),Section 151

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

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NC: 2024:KHC:31405 WP No. 13630 of 2024

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 7TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2024 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO. 13630 OF 2024 (T-IT) BETWEEN:

SHIVALI CREDIT CO OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED REGISTERED UNDER THE KARNATAKA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES ACT, 1959, REPRESENTED BY: PRAKASH KARANTH, VICE PRESIDENT, 1ST FLOOR, SHIROOR MUTT BUILDING, RAJANGANA ROAD, UDUPI, UDUPI 576 101. PAN: AADAS6306F

ALSO AT: PRAKASH KARANTH, AGED ABOUT 61 YEARS, S/O LAKSHMINARAYAN KARANTH, NO.7-498,. MEENA LAXMI, NITTUR POST, NITTUR, UDUPI - 576 103. …PETITIONER (BY SRI. RAVI SHANKAR S V., ADVOCATE)

AND:

1.

INCOME TAX OFFICER, ITO WARD 1 & TPS, AAYAKA BHAVAN, MALPE ROAD, AADIUDUPI, AMBALAPADI, (PO), UDUPI 576 103.

2.

NATIONAL FACELESS ASSESSMENT CENTRE, ADDITIONAL/ JOINT/ DEPUTY / ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX / INCOME TAX OFFICER , INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, ROOM NO. 401, 2ND FLOOR, E RAMP, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU STADIUM, DELHI 110 003.

Digitally signed by LEELAVATHI S R Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA

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NC: 2024:KHC:31405 WP No. 13630 of 2024

3.

THE PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX THE OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, C R BUILDING, QUEENS ROAD, BANGALORE – 560 001. …RESPONDENTS (BY SRI.TIRUMALESH M., ADVOCATE)

THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO QUASHING THE NOTICE UNDER SECTION 148A(b) OF THE ACT DTD 06.02.23 BEARING DIN NO. ITBA/AST/F/148A(SCN)/22-23/1049441202(1) ISSUED BY THE R1 FOR THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2019-20 HEREIN MARKED AS ANNEXURE-A AND QUASHING THE ORDER UNDER SECTION 148A(d) OF THE ACT DTD 21.03.23 BEARING DIN NO. ITBA/AST/F/148A/22-23/1051066573(1) ISSUED BY THE R1 FOR THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2019-20 HEREIN MARKED AS ANNEXURE-A1 AND ETC.,

THIS WRIT PETITION, COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

CORAM: HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR

ORAL ORDER

In this petition, the petitioner seeks the following reliefs:

“ i) Issue a writ of certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the notice under Section 148A(b) of the Act dated 06.02.2023 bearing DIN No.ITBA/AST/F/148A(SCN)/2022-23/1049441202(1) issued by the Respondent No.1 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A.

ii) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the order under Section 148A(d) of the Act dated 21.03.2023 bearing DIN No.ITBA/AST/F/148A/2022-23/1051066573(1) issued by the

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NC: 2024:KHC:31405 WP No. 13630 of 2024

Respondent No.1 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A1.

iii) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the notice under Section 148 of the Act dated 24.03.2023 bearing DIN No.ITBA/AST/S/148_1/2022-23/1051235374(1) issued by the Respondent No.1 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A2.

iv) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the order passed U/s 147 r.w.s 144 dated 31.01.2024 bearing DIN No.ITBA/AST/S/147/2023-24/1060340018(1) issued by the Respondent No.2 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A3.

v) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the penalty notice U/s 217AAC(1) of the Act dated 31.01.2024 bearing DIN No.ITBA/PNL/S/271AAC(1)/2023-24/1060342515(1) by the Respondent No.2 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A4.

vi) Issue a writ of Certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the penalty notice U/s 272A(1) (d) of the Act dated 31.01.2024 bearing DIN No.ITBA/PNL/S/272A(1)(d)_FL/2023-24/1060339025(1) by the Respondent No.2 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A5

vii) Issue a writ of certiorari or direction in the nature of a writ of certiorari quashing the order under Section 151 of the Act dated 17.03.2023 vide ITBA/AST/S/118/2022-

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NC: 2024:KHC:31405 WP No. 13630 of 2024

23/1050908150(1), issued by the Respondent No.3 for the assessment year 2019-20 herein marked as Annexure-A6.

viii) And pass such other orders as this Hon’ble Court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity.”

2.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondents and perused the material on record.

3.

In addition to reiterating the various contentions urged in the petition and referring to the material on record, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that due to non-availability of sufficient material on record, the petitioner at the time when the petitioner received show-cause notice under Section 148-A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1960 (for short “the I.T. Act”), submitted a tentative/temporary reply without any documents on 11.02.2023. It is submitted that respondent No.1 proceeded to pass the impugned order under Section 148-A(b) of the I.T. Act, dated 21.03.2023 without providing sufficient and reasonable opportunity to the petitioner, which was followed by the subsequent notices and orders, which are assailed in the present petition.

4.

Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents submits that there is no merit in the present petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.

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NC: 2024:KHC:31405 WP No. 13630 of 2024

5.

Though several contentions have been urged by both sides in support of their respective claims, in the light of the specific assertion on the part of the petitioner that he did not produce all relevant documents, which were not available and not in his custody at the time of issuance of reply under Section 148-A(b), without expressing any opinion on the merits/demerits of the rival contentions, I deem it just and appropriate to set aside Annexures- A1 to A6 and remit the matter back to the respondents for reconsideration afresh from the stage of 148-A(b) of the I.T. Act and file reply.

6.

In the result, I pass the following: ORDER

i) The Writ Petition is allowed.

ii) The impugned notice dated 06.02.2023, the impugned order dated 21.03.2023, the impugned notice dated 24.03.2023, the impugned order dated 31.01.2024, the impugned penalty notice dated 31.01.2024, the impugned penalty notice dated 31.01.2024, the impugned order dated 17.03.2023 at Annexures-A1 to A6 respectively, are hereby set aside.

iii) The matter is remitted back to the stage of 148-A(b) of the I.T. Act dated 06.02.2023.

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NC: 2024:KHC:31405 WP No. 13630 of 2024

iv) The petitioner shall submit a reply along with documents to the notice under Section 148-A(b) of the I.T. Act within a period of one month from today.

v) Immediately upon receiving the reply by the petitioner, the concerned respondents shall consider the same and provide an opportunity to the petitioner and proceed further in accordance with law.

Sd/- (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE BMC: List No.: 1 Sl No.: 29

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