Manoj Naraindas Motwani Vs ACIT (Bombay High Court)
Bombay High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Manoj Naraindas Motwani challenging an income tax assessment order dated March 20, 2024. The court cited the petitioner’s failure to avail of statutory alternate remedies and the absence of extraordinary circumstances warranting direct intervention.
The petition, heard repeatedly by the court at the request of the petitioner’s counsel, Ms. Rutuja Pawar, sought to challenge both the assessment order and the underlying notice issued on March 25, 2023.
During the proceedings, the court highlighted that the petition lacked any specific averment explaining why the petitioner had chosen not to pursue the available alternate and efficacious remedy of a statutory appeal. Instead, the petition contained a general statement that no other similar petition had been filed in the High Court or the Supreme Court regarding the same subject matter. The court noted that the demand notice, issued subsequent to the assessment order, explicitly advised the assessee of the availability of an alternate remedy, yet there was “no whisper” in the petition about it or the reasons for its non-utilization.
Ms. Pawar contended that the petition was instituted within 30 days of the service of the impugned assessment order, suggesting this as grounds for the High Court to entertain the petition, bypassing the standard practice of exhausting alternate statutory remedies. However, the court rejected this submission, stating that merely filing a petition within the appeal limitation period does not justify bypassing a statutorily provided alternate remedy.
