2022 (11) TMI 1263 - HC - Income Tax

Reopening of assessment u/s 147 - order passed under Section 148A(d) - Non supply of incriminating material / information against the petitioner - HELD THAT - As we have perused the reply dated 29th March, 2022 filed on 30th March, 2022 with the Assessing Officer. In the said reply, the petitioner has only asked to be served with the information / documents in possession of the respondent-revenue. The petitioner has given no reply on merits. This Court is of the view that if the petitioner desired the requisite information / documents in possession of the respondent-revenue, he should have asked for the same on the day one and certainly not waited for seven months to approach this Court. Since the matter has now progressed to the next stage i.e. Section 148 stage, this Court disposes of the present writ petition with a direction to the respondent-revenue to supply the incriminating material / information against the petitioner within four weeks.

Summary

Issues:
Challenging order under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and consequential notice issued under Section 148 for the Assessment Year 2018-19.

Analysis:

1. The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging the order passed under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and the consequential notice issued under Section 148 for the Assessment Year 2018-19. The petitioner's counsel argued that a prayer for adjournment was filed against the notice, requesting further time for filing a reply. The reply was submitted via email on 30th March, 2022, as the online submission portal was closed by the Respondent. However, an ex-parte order was passed without considering the response, leading to a miscarriage of justice.

2. Upon reviewing the reply filed by the petitioner on 30th March, 2022, it was noted that the petitioner had only requested to be served with the information/documents in possession of the respondent-revenue without providing a reply on merits. The Court expressed the view that if the petitioner required the information/documents, they should have requested it earlier and not waited for seven months to approach the Court.

3. The Court acknowledged that the matter had progressed to the Section 148 stage and disposed of the writ petition with a direction to the respondent-revenue to provide the incriminating material/information against the petitioner within four weeks. The petitioner was granted the liberty to present all contentions and submissions before the Assessing Officer.

4. Finally, the Court disposed of the present writ petition and pending applications with the aforementioned direction and liberty granted to the petitioner.