Rasheed Ali And Sons Vs ITO (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court addressed a Writ Petition filed by Rasheed Ali And Sons (Petitioner), a non-exclusive dealer of M/s. Indian Oil Corporation Limited engaged in retail trading of petrol and diesel, challenging an impugned order dated December 14, 2024, passed by the First Respondent. The Petitioner sought to quash this order and consequentially stop all coercive recovery action until the disposal of an appeal filed on May 31, 2024, against an assessment order for the Assessment Year (AY) 2019-2020.
The background involves the Petitioner receiving a notice on May 16, 2024, demanding tax dues, which revealed an assessment order dated December 28, 2023, for AY 2019-2020, with a demand of ₹8,31,30,150/- under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Separately, a penalty of ₹39,51,030/- was imposed under Section 271-AAC(1). The Petitioner subsequently filed appeals challenging both the assessment and the penalty on May 31, 2024.
The Petitioner requested the First Respondent, via a letter dated July 5, 2024, to hold recovery proceedings in abeyance pending the appeal. However, the First Respondent, through a letter dated October 16, 2024, directed the Petitioner to pay 20% of the disputed demand, citing the CBDT Instruction No.1914 dated March 21, 1996, and the Office Memorandum dated July 31, 2017.
