G Lalanatha Reddy Vs ACIT (Karnataka High Court)
When Speed Becomes Illegality: HC Quashes 81 CIT(A) Orders Passed After DGIT’s Stop Signal- Karnataka HC dismisses batch of appeals: Orders passed by CIT(A)-11 after DGIT’s direction held without jurisdiction
In a common judgment the Karnataka High Court dismissed a batch of Income-tax appeals (11) filed by various assessees including Sri G. Lalanatha Reddy, Adichunchanagiri Shikshana Trust, Hemanth Kumar Bothra, & others against the common order of ITAT dated 22-02-2021
Background
Following search operations u/s 132, the AOs made large additions while framing assessments u/s 143 r/w 147 & 153C. Appeals were heard by CIT(A)-11, Bengaluru. However, on 18 June 2018, the DGIT (Investigation) issued a show-cause notice to CIT(A)-11 alleging serious lapses & directed him not to pass any more appellate orders until he explained his earlier actions. Subsequently, on 16 July 2018, the Principal CCIT (Karnataka & Goa) formally transferred all pending appeals from CIT(A)-11 to CIT(A)-12 in the interest of administrative convenience.
Despite this, CIT(A)-11 passed around 50 appellate orders between 05-07-2018 & 13-07-2018, some even appearing to be pre-dated though dispatched later. The ITAT held that orders passed after 18-06-2018 were without jurisdiction & remitted the matters to the respective CIT(A)s for fresh disposal after due hearing.
