Ghati Subramanya Kshetra Development Authority Vs ITO (Karnataka High Court)
The case before the Karnataka High Court concerned a petition seeking to set aside an assessment order for Assessment Year 2020–21 and related attachment notices issued by the Income Tax Department. The petitioner challenged the assessment order and the subsequent attachment notices, contending that the order had been passed without proper adjudication.
The petitioner submitted that an appeal had been filed against the assessment order; however, the appeal was disposed of on the ground of non-participation and was not decided on merits. It was also submitted that an application under Section 12A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was required to be filed and that the petitioner would otherwise have to explain the issues before the assessing officer.
The court observed that the assessment order had been passed ex parte. Prior to the assessment, the authority had issued a notice asking the petitioner to explain why proceedings under Section 148 should not be initiated. Although the petitioner had submitted written submissions in response to the notice issued under Section 148A(b), the petitioner subsequently failed to participate in the assessment proceedings by filing the required return.
The assessment order recorded that the department had examined cash transactions and the non-filing of returns by the petitioner. The assessing authority noted that there was no valid explanation or supporting evidence to justify the source of cash deposits and proceeded to complete the assessment with proposed variations.
