The Delhi High Court bench consisting of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora quashed the demand of 8 crores and directs fresh adjudication in a matter relating to Baxter India.
The petitioner, Baxter India Private Limited Gambro India Private filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the High Court of Delhi. The writ petition has been filed challenging the assessment order passed for the Assessment Year 2016-17 under Section 147 read with Sections 144 & 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as well as demand notice issued under Section 156 imposing a demand of Rs.8,58,76,140/-.
The Counsels for the petitioner, Kamal Sawhney, Prashant Meharchndani, Arun Bhadauria, Nikhil Agarwal and Nishank Vashistha submitted that that notice has been issued by a non-jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO) to a non-existent entity and that the then jurisdictional Assessing Officer was duly intimated much before the AO wrongfully initiated the impugned reassessment proceedings that Gambro India Private Limited has merged with Petitioner and therefore stands dissolved. The Counsels relied on the judgments in Principal Commissioner of Income tax, New Delhi vs. Maruti Suzuki (India) Limited and Spice Infotainment vs. Commissioner of Income tax, wherein the Supreme Court has held that assessment against a non-existent entity is void ab initio. The Counsels further submitted that since Gambro India has ceased to exist and, it neither has a separate existence nor has any audited financials and consequentially no income to be assessed separately for the relevant Financial Year (FY) 2015-16.
The High Court said “However, a perusal of the paper book reveals that none of the aforesaid submissions and contentions have been considered by the Assessing Officer. Accordingly, this Court sets aside the impugned assessment order and demand notice under Section 156.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to TaxscanAdFree. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.
