SEENA RAMACHANDRAN V. INCOME TAX OFFICER

WP(C)/12711/2023

AI Insights

The case involves Seena Ramachandran, the proprietrix of PVC Product Centre, who filed a writ petition against the Income Tax Officer, the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, and the Central Board of Direct Taxes. The petition challenged the default summaries and demand notices issued for late filing levies under Section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The court referenced earlier judgments which had established that such levies were not permissible, and thus, the court quashed the impugned documents.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 749117 (HC-KERALA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 10-04-2023
• Assessment Year: misc
• Other Referred Cases: M/S Olari Little Flower Kuries Pvt Ltd v. Union of India
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Assessee Lawyers: AMMU CHARLES; K MANOJ CHANDRAN
• Keywords: Demand notice; Late filing levy; Quash; Default summaries
• Section: 234E; 200A

Judgement Text

"IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAVI MONDAY, THE 10TH DAY OF APRIL 2023 / 20TH CHAITHRA, 1945 WP(C) NO. 12711 OF 2023 PETITIONER: SEENA RAMACHANDRAN AGED 49 YEARS PROPRIETRIX OF PVC PRODUCT CENTRE, KRIPA COMPLEX THRISSUR, KERALA, PIN - 680101 BY ADVS. AMMU CHARLES K.MANOJ CHANDRAN RESPONDENTS: 1 INCOME TAX OFFICER AAYAKAR BHAVAN, SAKTHAN THAMPURAN RANGAR,THRISSUR, PIN - 680001 2 THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX CENTRALISED PROCESSING CELL-TDS AAYKAR BHAWAN, SECTOR-3 VAISHALI GHAZIYABAD, UP, PIN - 201010 3 CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES NORTH BLOCK, NEW DELHI,PIN - 110002 , REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN, SRI. CHRISTOPHER ABRAHAM, SC. THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 10.04.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C) NO. 12711 OF 2023 2 T.R. RAVI, J. -------------------------------------------- W.P.(C).No.12711 of 2023 -------------------------------------------- Dated this the 10th day of April, 2023 JUDGMENT Admit. The respective Standing Counsel takes notice for the respondents 1 to 3. 2. The prayer in the writ petition is to quash Exts.P1 to P3 default summaries and their corresponding intimations and Exts.P4 to P6 intimations and Ext.P7 demand notice to the extent they demand late filing levy under Section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The issue is no longer res integra. This Court has already held that such a levy is not possible in the judgment in W.P.(C.) No.37715/2018 which was confirmed by the judgment of a Division Bench in W.A. No.722/2019. A learned Single Judge has thereafter followed the above judgments in a case of a similarly situated person in Ext.P7 judgment in W.P.(C.) No.1078/2022. I do not find any reason to take a different view. The writ petition is hence allowed and Exts.P1 to P3 default summaries and their corresponding intimations and Exts.P4 to P6 intimations and WP(C) NO. 12711 OF 2023 3 Ext.P7 demand notice are quashed to the extent they demand late fee under Section 234(E). Sd/- T.R.RAVI JUDGE LEK WP(C) NO. 12711 OF 2023 4 APPENDIX OF WP(C) 12711/2023 PETITIONER EXHIBITS Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE SCREENSHOT OF DEFAULT SUMMARY FOR 2ND QUARTER OF FY 2012-13 Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE SCREENSHOT OF DEFAULT SUMMARY FOR 3RD QUARTER OF FY 2012-13 Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE SCREENSHOT OF DEFAULT SUMMARY FOR 4TH QUARTER OF FY 2012-13 Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE INTIMATION UNDER SECTION 200A OF IT ACT FOR 1ST QUARTER OF FY 2013-14 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE INTIMATION UNDER SECTION 200A OF IT ACT FOR 2ND QUARTER OF FY 2013-14 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF THE INTIMATION UNDER SECTION 200A OF IT ACT FOR 3RD QUARTER OF FY 2013-14 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT Exhibit P7 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE OF DEMAND DATED 05.07.2016 ISSUED TO THE PETITIONER Exhibit P8 TRUE COPY OF THE DIVISION BENCH JUDGMENT IN M/S OLARI LITTLE FLOWER KURIES PVT LTD V. UNION OF INDIA [(2021) TAXCORP (DT) 85976 (HC-KERALA) DATED 22.10.2021 "