UTTRANCHAL ISPAT PRIVATE LIMITED V. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

W.P.(C)/3322/2023

AI Insights

The writ petitions filed questioned the reassessment actions for the Assessment Year 2015-16, initiated through notices issued post-April 1, 2021. These actions were influenced by the Supreme Court's judgment in Union of India & Ors. v. Ashish Agarwal. The Delhi High Court, referencing its earlier decision in Kanwaljeet Kaur v. Assistant Commissioner Of Income Tax Circle (34) 1 Delhi & Ors., directed that all matters be remitted for consideration by the Assessing Officer. The court emphasized the need for a detailed examination of each SCN in light of the applicable legal precedents, particularly focusing on the procedural adherence required under Sections 148 and 153C of the Income Tax Act.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 722022 (HC-DELHI)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 04-02-2025
• Assessment Year: misc
• Other Referred Cases: Union of India & Ors. v. Ashish Agarwal, Kanwaljeet Kaur v. Assistant Commissioner Of Income Tax Circle (34) 1 Delhi & Ors., Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal, T.K.S. Builders, Abhinav Jindal, Naveen Kumar Gupta, Ram Balram
• Laws Referred To: Section 148 of the Act, Section 151, Section 153C
• Result in Favour of: Partly Allowed
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Assessee Lawyers: KAPIL GOEL; SANDEEP GOEL; SMRITI SAHAY; M GOSWAMI; PRAGATI SINGH; PUNEET RAI; ASHVINI; RISHABH NANGIA; ANMOL JAGGA; GAURAV KUMAR; ATIT JAIN
• Keywords: Assessment Year 2015-16; Reassessment; Supreme Court judgment; Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal; Kanwaljeet Kaur v. Assistant Commissioner Of Income Tax Circle (34) 1 Delhi
• Section: 148; 153C; 151

Judgement Text

" $~32 to 35 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 2841/2023 & CM APPL. 10953/2023 (Stay) AJAY MITTAL .....Petitioner Through: Dr. Kapil Goel & Mr. Sandeep Goel, Advs. versus ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX CIRCLE 52 (1) DELHI .....Respondent Through: Mr. Indruj Singh Rai, SSC with Mr. Sanjeev Menon, Mr. Rahul Singh, JSCs, Mr. Anmol Jagga & Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Advs. 33 + W.P.(C) 3322/2023 & CM APPL. 12892/2023 (Interim Relief) UTTRANCHAL ISPAT PRIVATE LIMITED .....Petitioner Through: Ms. Smriti Sahay, Mr. M. Goswami & Ms. Pragati Singh, Advs. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Puneet Rai, SSC with Mr. Ashvini Kr. & Mr. Rishabh Nangia, JSCs. 34 + W.P.(C) 3580/2023 REAL FINCAP LTD. .....Petitioner Through: Dr. Kapil Goel & Mr. Sandeep Goel, Advs. versus INCOME TAX OFFICER WARD 21 (1) NEW DELHI .....Respondent Through: Appearance not given. 35 + W.P.(C) 3679/2023 & CM APPL. 14253/2023 (Interim Relief) ROOP DIAMOND HOUSE PRIVATE LIMITED .....Petitioner This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 17/02/2025 at 17:34:08 Through: Mr. Atit Jain, Adv. versus INCOME TAX OFFICER WARD 21-1 DELHI & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Puneet Rai, SSC with Mr. Ashvini Kr. & Mr. Rishabh Nangia, JSCs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR O R D E R % 04.02.2025 1. These writ petitions had questioned the reassessment actions pertaining to Assessment Year [“AY”] 2015-16 which came to be initiated in terms of the notices impugned. 2. The notices were issued post 01 April 2021 and whereafter the respondents adopted a course correction in light of the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in Union of India & Ors. v. Ashish Agarwal1. 3. We have, while disposing of a batch of writ petitions in Kanwaljeet Kaur v. Assistant Commissioner Of Income Tax Circle (34) 1 Delhi & Ors.2, wherein we had an occasion to examine the fall out of the judgment in Ashish Agarwal as explained in Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal 3, ultimately, remitted all matters for the consideration of the Assessing Officer in the following terms: “27.We accordingly dispose of this batch of writ petitions by directing the concerned AOs to evaluate the individual SCNs‟ 1 (2023) 1 SCC 617 2 2025:DHC:656-DB 3 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2693 This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 17/02/2025 at 17:34:08 under Section 148 of the Act bearing in mind our judgments in T.K.S. Builders, Abhinav Jindal and Naveen Kumar Gupta. These decisions have conclusively settled issues pertaining to the accordal of sanction under Section 151 as well as the authority of the jurisdictional AO to commence and undertake reassessment. Those decisions also lay at rest the challenge which the writ petitioners had raised that an AO is bound to adhere to the procedure prescribed by Section 153C in cases emanating from a search. 28. A similar exercise would have to be undertaken to examine the issue of surviving period in respect of each individual noticee under Section 148 and which would necessarily be guided by the judgments of Rajeev Bansal and Ram Balram. 29. The concerned AOs shall consequently pass a reasoned and speaking order dealing with the impact of the judgments referred to above upon the impugned reassessment notices and in the manner indicated in paras 27 and 28 of this order. That decision shall thus render a finding on whether the impugned reassessment notices would survive or be liable to be recalled. It shall be open to the writ petitioners to assail any adverse orders that may come to be passed pursuant to the above in accordance with law.” 4. We, consequently, dispose of these writ petitions in light of paras 27 to 29 in Kanwaljeet Kaur. YASHWANT VARMA, J. HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR, J. FEBRUARY 4, 2025/v This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 17/02/2025 at 17:34:08 "