M/S. JINDAL PRIME FOOD PVT. LTD., V. INCOME TAX OFFICER, BIKANER

CW/12274/2015

AI Insights

M/s. Jindal Prime Food Private Limited filed a writ petition against the Income Tax Officer, Ward-2(1), challenging an assessment order that assessed their income at Rs.1,35,00,000 for the Assessment Year 2012-13, despite the petitioner declaring a NIL income. The petitioner had already appealed this assessment to the Commissioner Income Tax Appeals, Bikaner, which was still pending. The main contention was that the Income Tax Officer proceeded with coercive recovery actions during the pendency of the appeal, which the petitioner argued would frustrate the purpose of the appeal. The court, considering the submissions and the circumstances, decided to direct the appellate authority to expedite the appeal process and temporarily halt any coercive actions by the Income Tax Officer.

• Counselvise Citation: [2015] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 750997 (HC-RAJASTHAN)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 28-10-2015
• Assessment Year: misc
• Laws Referred To: Income-tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: SHEETAL KUMBHAT
• Assessee Lawyers: LOKESH MATHUR
• Keywords: Appeal Pending; Coercive Action; Income Assessment; Tax Recovery
• Section: 143(3); 220(6); 20(6); 246 A

Judgement Text

"1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR :: ORDER:: S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION No.12274/2015 M/s. Jindal Prime Food Private Limited V/s. Income Tax Officer, Ward-2(1) Date of Order :::: 28.10.2015 P R E S E N T HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.K. LOHRA Mr. Lokesh Mathur, for the petitioner. Mr. Sheetal Kumbhat, for the respondent-Department. - - BY THE COURT: Issue notice. Mr. Sheetal Kumbhat, standing counsel for the Income-tax Department, accepts notice on behalf of the respondents. Therefore, service is complete. The petitioner-assessee has laid this writ petition imploring annulment of impugned order dated 6th of October, 2015 (Annex.4) passed by Income-tax Officer, Ward-2(1), Bikaner (AO). 2 By the order, the AO has turned down the request of the assessee under subs-section (6) of Section 20 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short, 'Act of 1961'). The undisputed facts are that the petitioner has submitted his return for the Assessment Year 2012- 13 showing his gross income NIL. The AO while making the assessment under Section 143(3) of the Act of 1961 has made huge additions and ultimately assessed the income of the petitioner-assessee for a sum of Rs.1,35,00,000/-. Being aggrieved from the said assessment order, the petitioner has laid an appeal before the Commissioner Income Tax Appeals, Bikaner under Section 246-A of the Act of 1961 and the said appeal is still pending consideration. The grievance of the petitioner is that during the pendency of the appeal, the AO has proceeded to take coercive action against the petitioner-assessee for recovery of the tax as per the assessment order. Learned counsel for the petitioner Mr. Lokesh Mathur has urged that the only remedy available to the assessee in these circumstances was to approach the AO under sub-section (6) of Section 220 of the Act of 1961 3 but the said attempt made by the petitioner has proved to be abortive and the prayer has been declined. Mr. Mathur has, therefore, urged that looking to the huge demand of tax, some indulgence may be granted to the petitioner-assessee during the pendency of the appeal else the whole purpose of appeal would be frustrated. Mr. Kumbhat, learned standing counsel for the Income-tax Department, has submitted that in taxing and fiscal statutes, the courts are normally reluctant to pass interim orders and therefore, it is not desirable to grant indulgence to the petitioner-assessee. However, Mr. Kumbhat submits that it may be in the fintess of things to direct the Appellate Authority to expedite hearing of the appeal. Considering the submissions at bar and the peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, in my opinion, this petition can be conveniently disposed of with a direction to the appellate authority to hear and decide the appeal preferred by the petitioner under Section 246-A of the Act of 1961 as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of 90 days from today. It is further directed that during the pendency of the appeal, the AO may not take any coercive action 4 against the petitioner-assessee, pursuant to the assessment order dated 31.03.2015. The petition is, accordingly, disposed of. (P.K. LOHRA), J. a.asopa/- "