9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (11) TMI 702X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re considered the primary submission of the petitioner on waiver of interest, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no reference let alone findings on such submission of the petitioner, which is stated to be fundamental to the case of the petitioner as set out in its application dated 9th November 2022. There is another contention that the impugned order also fails to consider and/or deal with the position in law as reflected in the decisions cited and relied upon by the petitioner in its application dated 9th November 2022, let alone dealing with the same. In our view, the impugned order ought to have addressed these issues as flagged by the petitioner in supporting its case for grant of waiver of interest u/s 234C of the Income ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Income Tax Act, 1961 ( Income Tax Act for short) for the Assessment Year 2021-22 ( A. Y. Year 2021-22 for short) stood rejected. The reliefs/prayers in the petition are set out at pages 52 to 54 in para 12 thereof. The substantive relief/prayer is to quash and set aside the impugned order passed by respondent No. 1 and to grant waiver of interest for an amount of Rs. 3,88,59,353/- charged under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act. Such is the limited issue for consideration before us. A. Factual Matrix:- 3. The relevant facts need to be set out:- The petitioner filed its return of income on 11th March 2022 for the A. Y. Year 2021-22, declaring income at Rs. 3,65,12,48,710/- with book profits at Rs. 11,57,63,40,425/- and total tax of Rs ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e petitioner s application for waiver of interest dated 9th November 2022 filed for waiver of interest chargeable under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act. In support thereof, he submits that the Assessee diligently paid Advance Tax installments for the quarters commencing April to June 2020 to January to March 2021, amounting to Rs. 1,71,00,00,000/- as noted hereinabove. He submits that only for the quarter July to September 2020, the Assessee could not make payment of the Advance Tax within the due date. 7. Mr. Gandhi would further submit that such fluctuations were the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the overall business of the petitioner, which made it extremely challenging for the Assessee to correctly/properly estimate the book profits ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... interest in certain circumstances stipulated in the order/instructions (supra). He has contended that the Chief Commissioners, by way of such delegated legislation were authorised to reduce or waive interest under Section 234C which was aimed at mitigating the hardship to the Assessee in deserving cases subject to certain conditions stipulated in such instructions. He submits that the order/instructions dated 26th June 2006 continues to hold the field and would be applicable to the present case, as far as the waiver of interest is concerned. 11. Mr. Gandhi, in support of his submissions relies on the order passed by the Supreme Court dated 10th January 2022 in Suo moto Writ Petition (c) No. 3 of 2020 to contend that considering the difficul ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tification dated 26th June 2006. He submitted that this decision is applicable to the facts of the present case. He would submit that on similar reasons, as held by the Karnataka High Court in the said case, the impugned order in the present case ought to be quashed and set aside and the petitioner ought to be granted waiver of interest as prayed for. 14. On the other hand, Mr. Sharma, learned counsel for the Revenue has vehemently opposed all submissions and contentions made on behalf of the petitioner. He has placed strong reliance while emphatically referring to the contents of the impugned order. According to Mr. Sharma, in light of the reasons set out in the impugned order, there is no justification to interfere with the same, as accor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... stated that the pandemic brought about severe financial constraints and adverse impact on the petitioner s overall earnings and its revenue. It is also stated that even the World Health Organization ( WHO for short) recognised the COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis of the century. The said application places reliance on certain decisions including that of Bosch Ltd vs. ACIT (cited supra) to justify the case of the Assessee on waiver of interest under Section 234C of the Income Tax Act. 16. We have carefully perused the impugned order. It appears to us that the impugned order in its findings has nowhere considered the primary submission of the petitioner on waiver of interest, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that there is no refere ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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