The Kerala High Court stayed recovery proceedings as appeal and stay application pending before the First Appellate Authority (FAA).
The petitioner, Eramaloor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd, is a Co-operative Society engaged in providing credit facilities to its members. The petitioner/Society is registered under the provisions of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act 1969. The petitioner/Society did not file the return of its income for the Assessment Year 2017-18. The petitioner was issued a show cause notice under Section 142 (1) and (2) of the Income Tax Act 1961. The petitioner ignored the said show cause notice.
Thereafter, the notice under Section 147 was issued and the Assessment Order under the provisions of Section 144 of the Income Tax Act was finalised. The Assessing Authority assessed the tax at Rs.10,47,388/. The petitioner filed an appeal against the Assessment Order before the 3rd respondent, Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) along with a Stay Application.
The Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the stay application and the appeal have not been considered, and the petitioner is facing recovery proceedings in respect of the assessed tax.
A Single Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed that “Considering the aforesaid facts, the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/3rd respondent is directed to take up the appeal filed by the petitioner expeditiously and decide the same within a period of three months. However, if it is not possible to decide the appeal within the period of three months, at least the stay application of the petitioner should be decided in accordance with the law within the said period of three months. “
Counsels Divya Ravindran and C.A. Jojo appeared for the petitioner and Jose Joseph SC-IT appeared for the respondents.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
