Vinita Ravi Jain Vs ITO (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court heard two writ petitions together and disposed of them by a common order, treating Special Civil Application No. 16944 of 2019 as the lead matter. The petitions challenged the notices dated 26.03.2019 issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, along with the preliminary orders dated 07.09.2019 rejecting the petitioners’ objections. The petitions related to Assessment Year 2012-13.
The petitioner had regularly been assessed to income tax and had filed the return of income for Assessment Year 2012-13 on 12.09.2012. Subsequently, the Assessing Officer issued a notice under Sections 147 and 148 for reopening the assessment. The reasons for reopening were communicated on 26.06.2019, following which the petitioner filed objections on 01.07.2019. Those objections were rejected by the Assessing Officer on 07.09.2019.
The petitioner contended that the reopening was based on incorrect, irrelevant and extraneous information. It was submitted that the Assessing Officer had wrongly assumed jurisdiction under Sections 147 and 148 on the basis that the petitioner had purchased and sold shares of M/s. 21st Century, treated as a penny stock company, and had claimed exempt long-term capital gains. The petitioner asserted that no transaction involving shares of M/s. 21st Century had ever been undertaken during Assessment Year 2012-13 or in any other assessment year. According to the petitioner, the reopening was founded entirely on incorrect facts.
