Ojaswini Retailers Private Limited & anr. Vs Union of India & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court heard a writ petition challenging the order dated 30 June 2025 passed under Section 148A(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and the consequential notice issued under Section 148 for Assessment Year 2019-20. The principal issue before the Court was whether the Assessing Officer had validly formed the opinion that income had escaped assessment without considering the replies and materials submitted by the petitioners, and whether the principles of natural justice had been violated.
The petitioners contended that the impugned order was legally infirm because it was passed without considering their replies dated 11 April 2025 and 19 June 2025, which were filed in response to the show cause notice issued under Section 148A(1). They also challenged the Assessing Officer’s finding that transactions with M/s. Dhansidhi Developers Private Ltd. and M/s. Foremost Enterprise Private Ltd. lacked commercial substance, describing the conclusion as perverse, arbitrary, and unsustainable in law.
The petitioners submitted that they had not been given an effective opportunity to rebut the allegations despite producing banking statements and other documents. They stated that the transactions had been carried out through legitimate banking channels and relied upon the bank statements of their account with Federal Bank Ltd. and that of M/s. Foremost Enterprise Private Ltd. with IDBI Bank. According to them, mere routing of funds on the same day could not, by itself, lead to the conclusion that the transactions constituted accommodation entries or money laundering.
