Vrinda Sharad Bal Vs ITO (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court quashed orders dated 6 December 2022 and 23 December 2022 transferring Vrinda Sharad Bal’s income tax case to Nashik under Section 127 of the Income Tax Act. The transfer followed notices issued under Section 153C for A.Ys. 2014-15 to 2020-21 based on a search conducted in the case of C & M Farming Group, Nashik.
The assessment of the searched person had already been completed on 29 September 2021. The Petitioner submitted that, consequently, there was no requirement to transfer her case to Nashik. The Revenue did not dispute this fact and also stated that the Petitioner’s PAN had already been transferred back to Mumbai on 8 January 2024.
The Court held that the transfer orders would serve no purpose since they were based on administrative convenience and coordinated investigation in the case of C & M Farming Group, whose assessment had already been completed. Accordingly, both transfer orders were quashed and the Petitioner’s assessment was directed to be conducted in Mumbai under the appropriate charge. All rights and contentions on the merits were kept open. Rule was made absolute with no order as to costs.
Core Issue: Whether the assessee’s assessment could be transferred from Mumbai to Nashik under section 127 on the ground of administrative convenience and coordinated investigation when the assessment of the searched person, on whose search the proposed coordinated investigation was based, had already been completed.
