Case Law Details
Chotanagpur Diocesson Trust Asson Vs Union of India (Jharkhand High Court)
Conclusion: For issuance of notice under section 148A(b), department was duty-bound and was mandatorily required to provide all material information or inquiry conducted along with supporting documents to assessee as per the provisions of Section 148A, therefore, the matter was remitted back to the respondent to supply all the relied-upon documents on the basis of which the notice had been issued and pass the order strictly in accordance with the law as mandated in the provision itself.
Held: Assessee-trust was a charitable cum religious trust registered with Registrar of Companies under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 and also registered under Section 12A whose purpose was to provide benefit to entire members, Management of Churches and other social welfare activities. Assessee-company had been served with one notice under section 148A(b) for the Financial Year 2019-20. Upon issuance of notice under section 148A(b), assessee had filed a detailed reply wherein assessee had specifically raised objection with respect to issuance of notice under section 148A(b). As per assessee, department without considering the objections raised, without examining the submission placed by assessee and without following the criteria provided in Section 148A, had passed the impugned Order dated 22.03.2023 bearing DIN & Notice No. ITBA/AST/F/148A/2022- 23/1051109075(1) under section 148A(d) of the Act, and also issued notice dated 03.03.2023 under Section 148. Assessee also contended that though assessee replied to the notice but the reply was not taken into consideration as such since the action of the respondent in passing the impugned order was against the settled procedure and thus, the same deserved to be quashed and set aside. It was held that section 148A(a) deals with the conduct of an inquiry, if required, with the prior approval of specified authorities, with respect to the information that suggests that the income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment. The court remitted the matter back to the respondent to supply all the relied-upon documents on the basis of which the notice under Section 148 A(b) had been issued and pass the order strictly in accordance with the law as mandated in the provision itself.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF JHARKHAND HIGH COURT
The instant application has been preferred for the following reliefs:-
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