Gujarat Metal Cast Industrial Private Limited Vs ACIT (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court heard a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the validity of an order dated 27 July 2022 passed under section 148A(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the corresponding notice issued under section 148 for Assessment Year (AY) 2013–14 by the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Vadodara.
The petitioner company, engaged in manufacturing alloy metals, had filed its return of income for AY 2013–14 on 31 July 2013. In the return, it claimed deduction under section 35(2AB) of the Act in respect of expenditure incurred on scientific research relating to its in-house research and development facility. The case was selected for scrutiny assessment. During the original assessment proceedings, the petitioner submitted details of research and development expenditure and relevant certificates supporting its claim. After examining the materials placed on record, the Assessing Officer completed the assessment under section 143(3) on 14 March 2016 without disturbing the deduction claimed under section 35(2AB).
Subsequently, the assessment was sought to be reopened. A notice under section 148 dated 6 May 2021 was issued to the petitioner. Thereafter, a notice under section 143(2) read with section 147 dated 23 October 2021 was issued. The petitioner raised objections against the reopening through a reply dated 27 October 2021. Instead of disposing of these objections, the respondent issued another notice under section 142(1) dated 16 November 2021 seeking details regarding the deduction claimed under section 35(2AB). Later, on 27 May 2022, the respondent issued a show cause notice under section 148A(b) of the Act.
