Alok Kumar Mohapatra Vs ITO (Orissa High Court)
Entry made in dispatch register is not primary evidence for revenue to rely upon and deny petitioner remedy of rectification on ground of time bar.
In Alok Kumar Mohapatra vs. ITO, the Orissa High Court addressed a dispute over the rejection of a rectification application under Section 154 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The petitioner, Alok Kumar Mohapatra, claimed that he was wrongfully assessed for income tax despite being eligible for an exemption. His rectification request was denied on the grounds that it was time-barred, with the revenue citing an entry in its system showing service of the original assessment order on April 5, 2012. However, the petitioner contested this, arguing that the alleged service was unsubstantiated, and the assessment order had not been received.
The petitioner discovered the error upon receiving an intimation about the adjustment of a refund for the assessment year 2017-18. He promptly applied for rectification, only to have it rejected. During proceedings, the revenue admitted that the original return and physical acknowledgment of service were untraceable, relying solely on a system-generated entry. The court noted that such an entry, recorded in a dispatch register, did not constitute primary evidence and could not justify the denial of rectification.
