The Delhi High Court dismissed the writ petition as there was the recording of satisfaction by the Assessing Officer (AO) before initiating Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 proceedings.
The present writ petition, at the instance of the assessee, seeks to assail the order dated 22.04.2021 passed under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, wherein, an amount of ₹1,62,20,000/- was added to the total income of the assessee for Assessment Year [“AY”] 2014-15.
Kapil Goel, the counsel appearing on behalf of the assessee, primarily assailed the impugned order on the ground of violation of principles of natural justice. He submitted that ample opportunity of hearing was not given to the assessee to file her response in the assessment proceedings and that the conduct of the Revenue to substantiate the prejudice caused to the assessee on account of the belated furnishing of satisfaction note to her, only on 19.04.2021 and the assessment order which came to be passed arbitrarily and without due application of mind on 22.04.2021.
Sunil Agarwal, the senior standing counsel, appearing on behalf of the Revenue, vehemently opposed the submissions and that the Court ought not to invoke its writ jurisdiction as the assessee has an alternate efficacious remedy available as per law. He further submitted that right from 22.12.2020, the assessee was provided with the opportunity to file her response and participate in the assessment proceedings but the assessee continued to drag the matter to the far end of limitation.
A Division Bench of Justices Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav and Yashwant Varma observed that “It is crystal clear that the present is not the case where the principles of natural justice have not been met or the AO has not duly applied his mind before passing the impugned order. Therefore, there is no occasion for this Court to exercise the extraordinary powers enshrined under Article 226 of the Constitution as none of the exigencies noted above have been met in the instant case.”
“It is evident from the recitals of the notice dated 04.03.2021 and show cause notice dated 22.12.2020 that the AO has recorded his satisfaction before initiating the Section 153C proceedings and furthermore, on 19.04.2021, the assessee has been duly provided with the satisfaction note. Furthermore, it is relevant to point out that the assessee chose not to reply to the notice in the initial stage despite having being given ample opportunities of hearing and now after the passing of the assessment order under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, the assessee is assailing it on the fulcrum of inordinate delay” the Court noted.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
