Case Law Details
Ramco Cements Limited Vs ITO (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court held that any assessment order passed under section 144(C)(1) of the Income Tax Act has to be construed only as a draft assessment order, even if the word ‘draft assessment’ is missing.
Facts- The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner filed return of income on 09.03.2022 and thereafter filed revised returns on 31.03.2022. As there was variation in the returns filed to the tune of Rs.43,42,55,948/-, AO had referred to the Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO) to give their comments on the proposed variation pertaining to the price variation issue and the TPO had filed his report. Once the TPO report is filed, the respondent is supposed to have passed a draft assessment order u/s. 144(C) of the GST Act. However, without passing the draft assessment order, the respondent had directly passed the final assessment order. Hence, this writ petition.
Conclusion- Though the word “draft assessment” is missing, the provision under Section 144 (C) of the Income Tax Act is very much available and any order whatsoever in the form, in the event of the provisions by referring Section 144 (C) (1) of the Act, it should be construed only as a draft assessment order. No deficiency or discrepancy could be found in the order for not mentioning the word “draft assessment order” and by virtue of which, it would not get abated.
Held that the impugned Assessment Order should be considered as a draft assessment order and the petitioner, if so aggrieved, can very well file an appeal before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) under the provision of 144 (C) of the Income Tax Act.
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