NAYNABEN SUBHASHBHAI PACHCHIGAR V. INCOME TAX OFFICER WARD 1(3)(3)

SCA/20650/2018

AI Insights

In this case, Nayaben Subhashbhai Pachchigar filed a writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenging the notice dated 27.03.2018 and subsequent orders issued by the Income Tax Officer under Sections 147 and 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for the Assessment Year 2013-14. The petitioner sought to quash the notice and orders, claiming that the income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. The High Court, however, found that the final order of assessment had already been passed before the writ application was filed, and thus, the appropriate course of action for the petitioner was to appeal to the Appellate Authority rather than seek relief through a writ petition.

• Counselvise Citation: [2021] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 681318 (HC-GUJARAT)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 18-01-2021
• Assessment Year: misc
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Revenue
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: KALPANA RAVAL
• Assessee Lawyers: SHAKEEL QURESHI; RESHMA RAUMA
• Keywords: Assessment Year; Escaped assessment; Income Tax; Reopening of assessment; Writ application
• Section: 147; 148

Judgement Text

"C/SCA/20650/2018 ORDER IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 20650 of 2018 ========================================================== NAYNABEN SUBHASHBHAI PACHCHIGAR Versus INCOME TAX OFFICER WARD 1(3)(3) ========================================================== Appearance: MR SHAKEEL A QURESHI(1077) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1 MRS KALPANAK RAVAL(1046) for the Respondent(s) No. 1 ========================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ILESH J. VORA Date : 18/01/2021 ORAL ORDER (PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA) 1. Drat amendment, as prayed for is allowed. The same shall be carried out at the earliest. 2. By this writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ applicant has prayed for the following reliefs: “(A) Admit this petition. (B) Allow this petition, issue appropriate writ, order or direction against the respondent herein, and be pleased to quash and set aside notice dated 27.3.2018 (Annexure – B) issued by the respondent under Section 148 of the Act, and the order dated 19.10.2018 and dated 2.7.2018 (Annexure – A) passed by the respondent desposing of the objections raised by the petitioner under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for the Assessment Year 2013-14, in the interest of justice. (C) Pending admission hearing and final Page 1 of 3 C/SCA/20650/2018 ORDER disposal of this petition, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to stay operation, implementation and execution of the notice dated 27.03.2018 (Annexure -B) issued by the respondent under Section 148 of the Act, and the order dated 19.10.2018 and 2.7.2018 (Annexure – A) passed by the respondent disposing of the objections raised by the petitioner under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the Assessment Year 2013-14, in the interest of justice. (D) This Hon'ble Court be pleased to grant any other and further reliefs as deemed fit and proper in the interest of justice.” 3. This appears to be a case of reopening of the Assessment for the A.Y. 2013-14 under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short 'the Act, 1961' ) on the ground that the income chargeable to tax for the relevant A.Y has escaped assessment. 4. On 07.01.2019, the coordinate Bench of this Court passed the following order : “Leave to amend the prayer clause. Heard Mr. Shakeel Qureshi, learned advocate for the petitioner. Issue Notice returnable on 18th February, 2019. By way of ad-interim relief, the respondent is permitted to proceed further pursuant to the impugned notice; he, however, shall not pass the final order without the prior permission of this court. Direct Service is permitted. 5. The picture that emerges from the materials on record, more particularly the draft amendment is that much before the coordinate Bench issued notice vide order dated 07.01.2019, the order of Assessment had already been passed by the respondent dtd 06.12.2018 and the same was communicated to the writ applicant Page 2 of 3 C/SCA/20650/2018 ORDER on 28.12.2018. By way of amendment, the writ applicant now seeks to challenge the final order of Assessment in the present writ application. 6. We have heard Mr. Shakeel A. Qureshi, the learned counsel assisted by Ms. Reshma Rauma, the learned counsel appearing for the writ applicant and Mrs. Kalpana K. Raval, the learned Standing counsel appearing for the respondent. 7. We are of the view that as the final order of assessment has already been passed way back on 06.12.2018, the writ applicant should file an Appeal before the Appellate Authority in accordance with law. We see no good reason to grant any relief in the present writ application as prayed for. 8. With the above, this writ application stands rejected. The notice is discharged. Ad-interim relief granted earlier stands vacated. (J. B. PARDIWALA, J) (ILESH J. VORA,J) P.S. JOSHI Page 3 of 3 "