2024 (10) TMI 1576 - HC - Income Tax

Validity of Faceless Assessment order passed w/o perusing documents filed by the Petitioner - HELD THAT - Considering the submissions made by Petitioner, in the present case since the 2nd Respondent Faceless Assessment Officer had no occasion to peruse the documents filed by the Petitioner, at the time of personal hearing since those are yet to be uploaded in the web portal. Petitioner submitted that now the Petitioner is ready to upload the documents in the web portal as sought for by the Respondents and seeks three months time. This Court is inclined to set aside the impugned Assessment Orders. Accordingly, this Court passes the following order (i) The orders impugned herein are set aside and the matters are remanded back to the authority concerned. (ii) The Respondents concerned shall take steps to open/activate the Department Portal within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. (iii) The Petitioner is directed to upload the documents sought for by the Respondents within a period of three months from the date of activation of the Department Portal. (iii) On uploading of such documents by the Petitioner, the respondent concerned shall consider the same and issue a 14 days clear notice by fixing the date for personal hearing to the petitioner and the Faceless assessment officer shall provide personal hearing through video conferencing and thereafter, pass appropriate orders on merits and in accordance with law, after hearing the petitioner, as expeditiously as possible as contemplated u/s 144B.

Summary

Issues:
Challenging impugned orders in Writ Petitions related to assessment orders for A.Y.s 2003-04 to 2006-07.

Analysis:
The Writ Petitions were filed to challenge orders dated 12.02.2024 issued by the 2nd Respondent regarding assessment orders for specific assessment years. Previously, assessment orders dated 14.03.2023 were challenged in separate Writ Petitions and remanded back to the 1st Respondent for manual document submission. Despite complying with the court's order and submitting necessary documents manually, the 2nd Respondent issued further notices demanding data already submitted. The Petitioner argued that the documents were not considered before issuing the impugned order. The Respondent contended that the faceless assessing officer had not perused the physically submitted documents, which were in Chennai. The court noted the Petitioner's readiness to upload documents and set aside the impugned assessment orders.

The Petitioner appeared for a personal hearing before the Assessing Officer in compliance with the court's direction. However, the Assessing Officer insisted on soft copies of documents, which the Petitioner had not uploaded. The Respondent argued that the faceless assessing officer could not review the physically submitted documents from Chennai, leading to the issuance of assessment orders without considering them. The Respondent assured that if the documents were uploaded, they would be duly considered.

Considering the submissions, the court found that the faceless Assessment Officer had not reviewed the documents physically submitted by the Petitioner, as they were not uploaded on the web portal. The Petitioner expressed readiness to upload the documents as required by the Respondents and requested three months to do so. Consequently, the court set aside the impugned assessment orders and remanded the matters back to the concerned authority. The Respondents were directed to activate the Department Portal within three months, and the Petitioner was instructed to upload the documents within the same period. Upon uploading, the Respondents were to provide a clear notice for a personal hearing through video conferencing, followed by passing appropriate orders expeditiously in accordance with the Income Tax Act.

In conclusion, the court disposed of the Writ Petitions with the aforementioned directions, without imposing any costs. The connected Miscellaneous Petitions were also closed as a result of the judgment.