Supreme Court Upholds 2012 Income Tax Attachment on Mumbai Shop, Rules Possession Alone Cannot Confer Right Without Clear Title [Read Judgement]
The Supreme Court ruled that petitioner cannot challenge a 2012 Income Tax attachment on a Mumbai shop, holding that possession without clear title gives no right to object.
![Supreme Court Upholds 2012 Income Tax Attachment on Mumbai Shop, Rules Possession Alone Cannot Confer Right Without Clear Title [Read Judgement]](https://images.taxscan.in/h-upload/2025/09/17/2088086-supreme-court-taxscan.webp "Supreme Court Upholds 2012 Income Tax Attachment on Mumbai Shop, Rules Possession Alone Cannot Confer Right Without Clear Title [Read Judgement]")
In a recent order, the Supreme Court of India upheld a decision of the Bombay High Court dismissing a challenge to an Income Tax attachment dating back to 2012. The Court explained that mere possession of a property cannot give a party the right to question such an attachment without establishing clear title.
The case arose from a special leave petition filed by Digitech Electronics Systems Pvt. Ltd. challenging the Bombay High Court’s judgment dated 12 March 2025 in Writ Petition No. 3265 of 2022. The High Court had refused to set aside the attachment order dated 27 March 2012, which was issued against Shop No. 3, Ground Floor, Parekh Building, Opera House, Mumbai.
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The petitioner’s counsel argued that Digitech had purchased the shop under a registered agreement in July 2021, had obtained a loan against it, and was in possession. They submitted that the company was entitled to object under Rule 11 of Schedule II of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and that the attachment had lapsed after seven years under Rule 68B.
The Bombay High Court observed that the title to the shop was under serious dispute in pending civil suits and that the attachment order was specifically issued against the rights of Vinod Bhagat, the legal heir and benamidar of Kalyanji Bhagat. It explained that Digitech, who came into the picture only in 2021, could not challenge an attachment made in 2012 merely on the basis of possession. The writ petition was dismissed.
The matter was then carried to the Supreme Court, where the Bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale agreed with the High Court. The court observed that the petitioner was not even in possession when the attachment was made and had not perfected its title through the sale agreement.
It pointed out that objections cannot be entertained from someone who was not a party or in possession at the time of attachment. The Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition on 22 August 2025, bringing the matter to an end, while leaving issues of ownership and title to be resolved in the civil suits pending before the Bombay High Court.
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