Dhanapal Eswari Vs ITO (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court has quashed an assessment order issued by the Income Tax Department against Dhanapal Eswari, a gas cylinder and stove distributor, providing relief in a case where key notices and the final order were sent to an outdated email address. The court’s decision emphasizes the importance of proper service of notices and has remanded the matter for fresh consideration, albeit with a condition for the petitioner to pay 15% of the disputed tax amount.
The case, Dhanapal Eswari Vs Income Tax Officer, centered on the petitioner’s claim that she was unaware of reassessment proceedings for the Assessment Year 2018-19 due to a change in her primary email address. The initial notices from the Income Tax Department were reportedly sent to her updated registered email ID. However, subsequent notices dated August 28, 2023, December 1, 2023, and a Show Cause Notice dated January 17, 2024, along with the final assessment order dated February 22, 2024, were allegedly dispatched to an old email ID that was no longer in use. Furthermore, the petitioner contended that these crucial documents were not served via postal mail.
According to the petitioner’s counsel, her primary email ID was [email protected], and a secondary ID was [email protected]. While initial communications reached her updated ID, the later, critical notices and the final assessment order were reportedly misdirected to the old address. This led to the petitioner’s inability to participate in the proceedings or present her case, ultimately resulting in an ex-parte assessment order. The counsel further argued that the reassessment itself was illegal, asserting no escapement of taxable income, and that the assessment order exceeded the scope of the initial show cause notice.
