Mr. Sham Basheer V. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) -3 and Income Tax Officer, Ward-4

WP(C)/38347/2023

AI Insights

The case involves Mr. Sham Basheer, the petitioner, who contested the assessment orders for the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The primary contention was the lack of an opportunity for a hearing before the appellate authority, as no communication was allegedly sent regarding the hearings. The respondents, however, provided evidence that notices were sent to the email IDs registered by the petitioner, and the petitioner had responded to these communications in a related appeal for the year 2017-18. The court concluded that the petitioner had indeed received the communications and thus dismissed the writ petition.

• Counselvise Citation: [2024] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 812665 (HC-KERALA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 01-02-2024
• Assessment Year: misc
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Revenue
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: NAVANEETH NATH; SUSIE VARGHESE
• Assessee Lawyers: K LATHA
• Keywords: Appeal; Assessment Order; Email Communication; Income Tax; Opportunity of Hearing
• Section: 35

Judgement Text

"IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SINGH THURSDAY, THE 1ST DAY OF FEBRUARY 2024 / 12TH MAGHA, 1945 WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 PETITIONER: MR. SHAM BASHEER, AGED 52 YEARS, ASHIK MANZIL, NEAR VIMAL HOSPITAL, ETTUMANOOR, KOTTAYAM, KERALA, INDIA, PIN – 686631. BY ADV. SRI. K. LATHA RESPONDENTS: 1 THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (APPEALS) -3, OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (APPEALS), CIT (A), COCHIN, PIN – 682003. 2 INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD-4, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, KOTTAYAM, PIN – 686001. BY ADVS. SRI. NAVANEETH N. NATH – SC – INCOME TAX SRI. SUSIE B. VARGHESE – SENIOR SC – INCOME TAX THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 01.02.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 2 DINESH KUMAR SINGH, J. -------------------------- W.P.(C) No. 38347 of 2023 ------------------------- Dated this the 1st day of February, 2024 JUDGMENT 1. The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner who is an assessee under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Against the assessment orders for the assessment years 2011-12 to 2014-15, the petitioner had filed appeals. The said appeals have been disposed of vide Exhibit P-2 series of orders. 2. The only ground which has been taken in the writ petition is that the petitioner was not afforded an opportunity of hearing and no communication for hearing was sent to the petitioner by the appellate authority before passing the impugned Exhibit P-2 series orders on petitioner’s appeals against the assessment orders in Exhibit P-1 series. In response to the notice issued and directions passed by this Court in Orders dated 26.11.2023 and 30.11.2023, a statement has been filed on behalf of the respondents. According to the statement, petitioner has given as many as five e-mail ids as mentioned in paragraph 2 of the statement, which is extracted hereunder for perusal; WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 3 2. The following Email ids have been provided by the appellant at various stages (filing of returns, filing of appeals etc.) before the department and have been registered with the department. The details of such are given as under; 1 Primary Email id as per e-filing profile of Assessee [e-mail] 2 Secondary Email id as per e-filing profile of Assessee [e-mail] 3 Primary Email id as per Latest Return filed shamaf [e-mail] 4 Secondary Email id as per Latest Return filed [e-mail] 5 Primary Email id as per ITR (Income Tax Return) of Assessment Year under consideration [e-mail] 6 Secondary Email id as per ITR of Assessment Year under consideration [e-mail] 7 The email id provided in the Appeal Filing Petition (Form 35) for the Assessment Year 2011-12. j a [e-mail] WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 4 8 The email id provided in the Appeal Filing Petition (Form 35) for the Assessment Year 2012-13. j a [e-mail] 9 The email id provided in the Appeal Filing Petition (Form 35) for the Assessment Year 2013-14. [e-mail] 10 The email id provided in the Appeal Filing Petition (Form 35) for the Assessment Year 2014-15. [e-mail] 11 The email id provided in the Appeal Filing Petition (Form 35) for the Assessment Year 2017-18 m [e-mail] 3. It is further stated that the latest e-mail id given by the petitioner at the time of filing of appeal against the assessment order for the assessment year 2017-18 is ‘[e-mail]’. The petitioner has been issued notices of hearing on the latest e-mail id as well as another e-mail id i.e. shamafcetm r @yahoo.com which is the latest e-mail id given in on the return for the latest assessment year and notices have been sent on the said e-mail id as is disclosed in WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 5 paragraph 3, wrongly numbered as 2 in the statement. It is further stated that in response to the appeal in respect of the assessment year where the e-mail id has been given as ‘[e-mail]’ petitioner has submitted online response on 30.01.2023. It is therefore submitted that the petitioner cannot turn around and say he did not receive any notices of hearing in respect of the appeals against assessment orders in Exhibit P-1 series when the petitioner himself has given the latest e-mail id as ‘[e-mail]’ and in response to the notice issued in the appeal against the assessment order for the assessment years 2017-18, the petitioner has replied and received the notice. 4. Ms. Latha K., learned Counsel for the petitioner however submits that in the returns the petitioner had given the e-mail id ‘[e-mail]’ and no communication has been sent on the said e-mail id to the petitioner. The e-mail id ‘[e-mail]’ is only given in the appeal filed against the assessment order for the assessment year 2017-18 and that appeal is still pending for consideration. 5. I have considered the submissions. It is not in dispute the all these e-mail ids which are mentioned in paragraph 2 of the statement have been given by the petitioner. The latest e-mail id given by the WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 6 petitioner in the appeal filed against the assessment order for the assessment year 2017-18 ‘[e-mail]’ on which the notices have been sent which is evident from paragraph 3 wrongly numbered as 2 in the statement. The petitioner had received the communications in respect of the appeal against the assessment order for the assessment year 2017-18 on the e-mail ‘[e-mail]’ and petitioner has also submitted response to the communication sent by the Department. Therefore, I am of the view that when the petitioner himself has given multiple e-mail ids and petitioner has responded to the notice issued on e-mail id ‘[e-mail]’ on which the several communications for hearing of the appeal were issued, I find the stand of the petitioner not tenable and, therefore, the writ petition is dismissed. However, if the petitioner is aggrieved by the impugned appellate orders in Exhibit P-2 series, the petitioner may file appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, if he so advised. Sd/- DINESH KUMAR SINGH JUDGE Svn WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 7 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 38347/2023 PETITIONER’S EXHIBITS EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE APPEAL IN FORM NO. 35 FILED BY THE PETITIONER AGAINST THE ASSESSMENT ORDER FOR THE YEAR 2011-2012 EXHIBIT P1A TRUE COPY OF THE APPEAL IN FORM NO. 35 FILED BY THE PETITIONER AGAINST THE ASSESSMENT ORDER FOR THE YEAR 2012-2013 EXHIBIT P1B TRUE COPY OF THE APPEAL IN FORM NO. 35 FILED BY THE PETITIONER AGAINST THE ASSESSMENT ORDER FOR THE YEAR 2013-2014 EXHIBIT P1C TRUE COPY OF THE APPEAL IN FORM NO. 35 FILED BY THE PETITIONER AGAINST THE ASSESSMENT ORDER FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015 EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE APPELLATE ORDER DATED 20TH SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUED BY THE FIRST RESPONDENT APPELLATE AUTHORITY TO THE PETITIONER FOR THE YEAR 2011- 2012 EXHIBIT P2A TRUE COPY OF THE APPELLATE ORDER DATED 20TH SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUED BY THE FIRST RESPONDENT APPELLATE AUTHORITY TO THE PETITIONER FOR THE YEAR 2012- 2013 EXHIBIT P2B TRUE COPY OF THE APPELLATE ORDER DATED 20TH SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUED BY THE FIRST RESPONDENT APPELLATE AUTHORITY TO THE PETITIONER FOR THE YEAR 2013-2014 EXHIBIT P2C TRUE COPY OF THE APPELLATE ORDER DATED 20TH SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUED BY THE FIRST RESPONDENT APPELLATE AUTHORITY TO THE PETITIONER FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015 EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE SCREEN SHOT OF THE WEB PORTAL OF THE PETITIONER WRITING AS THE PETITIONER'S REGISTERED EMAIL ID AS [e-mail] WP(C) NO. 38347 OF 2023 8 EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE/LETTER ABOUT EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE YEAR 2011-2012 DATED 03.11- 2022, 16-11-2022, 19-01-2023, 11-08- 2023 AND 05-09-2023 EXHIBIT P4A TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE/LETTER ABOUT EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE YEAR 2012-2013 DATED 21-10-2022. 03-11- 2022, 16-11-2022, , 19- 01-2023, 11-08-2023, AND 05-09-2023 EXHIBIT P4B TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE/LETTER ABOUT EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE YEAR 2013-2014 DATED 21-10-2022. 15-11-2022, 16-11-2022, , 20-01- 2023, 11-08- 2023, AND 05-09-2023 EXHIBIT P4C TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE/LETTER ABOUT EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015 DATED 21-10-2022. 15-11-2022, 16-11-2022, , 20-01- 2023, 11-08-2023, AND 05-09-2023 "