Vibhavari Bharat Bhatt Vs ITO (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court considered a writ petition challenging multiple proceedings initiated under the Income Tax Act, 1961, including notice dated 29 March 2023 under Section 148A(b), order dated 4 May 2023 under Section 148A(d), notice dated 4 May 2023 under Section 148, order dated 30 December 2025 under Section 144C(5), reassessment order dated 23 January 2026 under Section 147 read with Section 144C(13), and the corresponding demand notice under Section 156.
The primary ground of challenge was that the authorities refused to follow the judgment of the Bombay High Court in Hexaware Technologies Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax (2024). The petitioner had earlier approached the High Court in two separate writ petitions. In the first petition, the Court declined to entertain the challenge to the notice under Section 148 and directed the petitioner to approach the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) against the draft assessment order. The petitioner filed objections before the DRP but did not intimate the Assessing Officer, resulting in a final assessment order. This was again challenged, and the Court set aside the assessment order and remanded the matter to the DRP for de novo consideration, directing it to consider all contentions, including applicability of Hexaware Technologies Ltd.
