Durga Automotives Pvt. Ltd. Vs DCIT (ITAT Kolkata)
In a significant ruling for taxpayers, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Kolkata Bench has set aside an assessment order against Durga Automotives Pvt. Ltd. for the Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18. The Tribunal found that the notice issued under Section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by the Assessing Officer (AO) was invalid because it did not conform to the prescribed format and lacked crucial information regarding the type of scrutiny.
The appeal, which was initially delayed by 72 days, was admitted by the ITAT after considering the reasons provided for the delay, deeming them reasonable.
Challenging the Notice
Durga Automotives filed additional grounds of appeal directly challenging the validity of the Section 143(2) notice dated September 27, 2018. The primary contention was that the AO issuing the notice did not have proper jurisdiction as the notice failed to specify the type of scrutiny under which the assessee’s case had been selected. This, the assessee argued, rendered the notice “bad-in-law” and the subsequent assessment order “baseless.”
Furthermore, the assessee contended that the AO had issued the notice without complying with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Instruction F. No. 225/157/2017/ITA-II dated June 23, 2017, thereby making the notice invalid.
