Smt. Uma Shetkar V. The Income Tax Officer - Ward 1

WP/36648/2024

AI Insights

The case involves Smt. Uma Shetkar, the petitioner, challenging the rejection of her stay application by the Income Tax Officer, Sangareddy, pending the disposal of her appeal before the first appellate authority. The petitioner argued that the mandatory faceless procedure was not followed in her case, which is a central issue in her appeal. The High Court referenced a similar case (W.P.No.2526O of 2024) where interim protection was granted under similar circumstances and decided to follow the same course, directing that recovery proceedings should be held in abeyance until the appellate authority makes a decision.

• Counselvise Citation: [2024] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 752671 (HC-TELANGANA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 30-12-2024
• Assessment Year: misc
• Other Referred Cases: Kankanala Ravindra Reddy, Ashish Agatwal
• Laws Referred To: Article 226 of the Constitution of India, Articles 14, 18(1)(g), and 265 of the Constitution of India, Section 14BA of the Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: J SUNITHA; DOMINIC FERNANDES
• Assessee Lawyers: A V A SIVA KARTIKEYA
• Keywords: Faceless procedure; Income Tax; Natural Justice; Stay Application; Writ of Mandamus
• Section: 14; 265; 226; 18(1)(g); 14BA

Judgement Text

"HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY ,THE THIRTIETH DAY OF DECEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FOUR PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUST]CE SUJOY PAUL AND THE HONOURABLE DR. JUSTICE G.RADHA RANI WRIT PETITION NO:36648 OF 2024 Between: Smt. Uma Shetkar, W/o. Mr. Suresh Kumar Shetkar, aged 58 years, Occ. Business, H.No..82l2RT, Near New Vision College, Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, Hyderabad - 500 038, Telangana. ...PETITIONER AND 1. The lncome Tax Officer - Ward '1, Sangareddy, lncome Tax Office, Veerabhadra Nagar, New Bus Stand, Veerabhadra Nagar, Sangareddy - 502 001, Telangana. 2. Assessment Unit lncome Tax Department National e Assessment Center, Room No 401 2nd Floor, E-Ramp, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium New Delhi- 110003 3. The Principal Commissioner of lncome Tax 2, Signature Towers S y No 6( P) of Kondapur, Opp Botanical Gardens Hyderabad-50821 3, Telangana 4. The Joint Commissioner (Appeals)/ the Commissioner of lncome Tax Appeals National Faceless Appeal Centre, Through the Principal Chief Commissioner of lncome Tax (NaFAC) Delhi North Block New Delhi 110001 5. The Central Board of Direct Taxes Represented by its Chairman Department of Revenue Ministry of Finance, Govemment of lndia Secretariat Buildings New Delhi 1 10001 ...RESPONDENTS Petition under A(icle 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, Order or Direction, declaring the order passed by the 1st Respondent, vide DIN and Letter No.. ITBA/COMlFl1712024-2511070852946(1), dated 03.12.2024, in rejecting the stay application filed by the Petitioner, pending disposal of the appeal of the Petitioner before the '1st Appellate Authority, i.e-, the 4th Respondent herein, for the Assessmenl Year 2016 - 17, as arbitrary, illegal, barred by limitation, bad in Iaw, void-ab-initio, violative of the principles of natural justice, apart from being [ 3430 I violative of Articles 14, 1S(1)(g) and 265 of the constitution of lndia and sec 14BA of the lncome Tax Act, 1 961, and consequently set-aside the same and grant stay oi r\"\"ou\".y, pending disposal of the Petitioners appeal before the 1st Appellate Authority, in the interests of justice IA NO: 1 OF 2024 Petition under Section 151 cPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, the High court may be pleased to stay all further proceedings, including any recovery, pursuant to vide DIN and Letier No. tTBtubOM/F/17 t2124-25t1070852946(1), dated 03.12.2024, in rejecting the stay application fiied by the Petitioner, pending disposal of the appeal of the Petitioner 'before the 1st Appellate Authority, i.e., the 4th Respondent herein, for the Assessment Year 2016 - 1 7 pending disposal of the above writ Petition Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI' A V A SIVA KARTIKEYA Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4: Ms. J SUNITHA SC FOR INCOME TAX Counsel for the Respondent NO.5: SRI DOMINIC FERNANDES, SC FOR CBIC The Court made the following: ORDER 7 I I I I I THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SUJOY PAUL AND THE HON'BLE DT. JUSTICE G. RADHA RANI WRIT PETITION No.36648 of 2024 ORDER (per Hon'ble SP,J) Sri A.V.A. Siva Kartikeya, learned counsel for the petitioner, Ms. J.Sunitha, learned Junior Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department, for respondent Nos. 1 to 4 and Sri Dominic Fernandes, learned Senior Standing Counsel for CBIC, for respondent No.S. 2. The impugned order dated 03.12.2024, whereby the petitioner's application for stay has been rejected, is called in question in this petition filed under Articte 226 of the Constitution. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that one of the principle issues before the appellate authority against the assessment proceeding is that the mandatory faceless procedure was not followed bv them. In a batch o[ matters, this Court has granted interim protection in such cases, where such procedure was not followed. In the instant case, the petitioner approached the appellate authorit5r and prayed for similar protection which has been declined' A Coordinate Bench of this Court in W.P.No.2526O of 2024 granted interim protection and directed the appellate authority to decide the appeal. The same course may be adoptcd. I ;ra 4 The olher side has no objection. I I 7 5. A Coordinate Bench of this Court in aforesaid W.p.No.2526O of 2024 recorded as under: \"6. The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner so far as the 148 notice issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Offrcer not being in dispute by the learned Standing Counsel for tJle Department and also in the light of tJle aforesaid judgrnents rendered by this Court in the case of Kankanala Ravindra Reddy (supra l) and in the Iight of the judgment of the Honble Supreme Court in case of Ashish Agatwal (supra 2), we are of the considered opinion that the Assessing Authority in the course of deciding the petition under Section 220(6) of ttre Act, ought to have take a more pragmatic view and shoulcl had kEpt the recovery proceedings in abeyance, pending the appeal before the Appellate Authority. 7. For the aforesaid reasons, we dispose of the present Writ Petition at this juncture directing the Assessing Offrcer not to pursue with the recovery proceedings in terms of the impugned order dated 12.Oa.2O24 till the appeal for the Assessment Year 2Ol3-L4 is hnally decided.\" 6. In view of aforesaid order, this petition is disposed of by directing the Assessing Officer not to pursue the recovery proceedings in terms of the impugned assessment order till the decision ol the appellate authority. The appellate authoriry shall make endeavour to decide the appea-l expeditiously. It is made clcar that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. No cosls_ Interlocutory applications, if any pending, shall also stand closed //TRUE COPY// SD/- L. VIJAYA LAKSHMI ASSI ANT REGISTRAR To, 1. The lncome Tax Officer - Ward 1, Sangareddy, lncome Tax Office, Veerabhadra Nagar, New Bus Stand, Veerabhadra Nagar, Sangareddy - 502 001 , Telangana. 2, Assessment Unit lncome Tax Department National e Assessment Center, Room No 401 2nd Floor, E-Ramp, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium New Delhi- 1 '10003 3. ThePrincipal Commissioner of lncome Tax 2, Signature Towers S y No 6( P) of Kondapur, Opp Botanical Gardens Hyderatiad-508213, Telangana ,,/( I I ,ll U SECTION OFFICER KKS 4. The Joint Commissione i[[#gtT_\" [J[\"*jt+,'s';fi il, *?if!:iiil.\"\"Ji,T {tffixp,^3j ?j!ii,, / 5. The Commissioner of tncome Tax (Appeals) National Faceless Aooeal 6,\"#frlg,s;?n,l..:.,?m jrn:,g,\"1fli;i[[iffi;t;lnio,'\"6],ii*'' 6. The Central Board of Dir pup\"'.t,6nior\"il;;;'f;4\"ilry\",?',f#:::E8*l;,|i\".,XiiTil\" secretariat Buildings ttew DelnittO0Oi \"-, '\"'\"\"' 7. One CC to SRt. A V A S|VA KARTIKEYA Advocate tOpUCl 8. One CC to Ms. J SUNTTHA S_C FOR TNCOME TAX [OPUC] e. one CC to SRt DoMtNtc eenr.rnr.rois. sCioiibbrc IopUcI 10.Two CD Copies 2- I t' I I I I t HIGH COURT DATED:3011212024 ORDER WP.No.36648 of 2024 4 /a /t ,/z/ DISPOSING OF THE WRIT PETITION WTHOUT COSTS JAll 2125 T4 r5 J e t 1 t ( I C * ( J c DEs {.U(.C 30 F /'( I l o; "