9911796707
TMI Blog2006 (4) TMI 79X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . In view of the same, it cannot be said that no proceedings are pending on the date of passing of order under section, 142 (2A) of the Act. Hence, I do not find any illegality in the impugned notice issued under section 142(2A) - - - - - Dated:- 17-4-2006 - Judge(s) : MOHAN SHANTANAGOUDAR. JUDGMENT Mohan Shantanagoudar J.-Heard Sri K.P. Kumar, learned senior advocate appearing for Sri A. Shankar for the petitioner and Sri M.V. Seshachala, learned Central Government standing counsel, appearing on behalf of the respondents and perused the material on record. The notices dated January 31, 2003, issued under section 158BC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ("the Act" for short), vide annexure B and dated January 30, 2003, issued under secti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , the proceedings relating to assessment are deemed to have been commenced only on January 31, 2003. In other words, he submits that the assessment proceedings have commenced from the date of issuing notice vide annexure B, i.e., on January 31, 2003, and that therefore the proceedings could not be said to have been pending prior to that date. Thus, according to him, as the proceedings relating to the assessment were not pending as on January 31, 2003, the notice under section 142(2A) of the "Act" could not have been issued by the concerned authority, inasmuch as the same is premature. Hence, he prays for quashing of the notice at annexure C. In this regard, it is relevant to note the provisions of sub-section (2A) of section 142 of the "A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mmenced at 8.45 a.m. on January 16, 2001 and ended at 7.15 p.m. on the very day. The petitioner is working as business manager in M/s. Maxwell Industries Ltd., which is being assessed in Bombay. The said M/s. Maxwell Industries Ltd., was also searched on January 16, 2001. The respondent, with a view to centralise the assessments pertaining to the said firm with one officer so as to enable him to complete assessments in an effective manner, the proceedings for transferring the jurisdiction of the assessee from Bangalore to Mumbai were initiated by issuing letter dated March 4, 2002. As the assessee objected to the same, the transfer proceedings were dropped. As could be seen from the additional statement of objection filed by the respondent, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r. In view of the same, in my considered opinion, the Assessing Officer has applied his mind before passing the order under section 142(2A) of the Act. He also found that the nature of accounts in question is complex in nature. Now the only question that remains to be considered by this court is as to whether the proceedings were said to be pending before the Assessing Officer at the time of passing an order under section 142(2A) of the "Act" or not. It is relevant to refer at this stage to Explanation 2 of section 132 of the "Act" which reads thus: "Explanation 2.-In this section, the word 'proceeding' means any proceeding in respect of any year, whether under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), or this Act, which may be pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of learned senior counsel, that since notice under section 158BC is issued by the Assessing Officer on January 31, 2003, the proceedings prior to that date cannot be treated as assessment proceedings, cannot be accepted. By issuing notice under section 158BC of the "Act", the concerned Assessing Officer has merely directed the petitioner to furnish a fresh return of income. The said notice issued under section 158BC cannot be treated as the notice issued for commencement of assessment proceedings. On the other hand, as aforesaid, the proceedings can be said to have been pending from the date of search itself. As the assessment proceedings in this case are based on search and seizure, the assessment proceedings will start from the date o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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