Casio India Company Private Limited Vs ACIT (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court has directed the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) to expeditiously resolve a 12-year-old income tax appeal filed by Casio India Company Private Limited. The Court’s intervention comes after Casio highlighted the inordinate delay in the appeal’s disposal and the recovery of approximately ₹3.5 crore by the tax authorities through adjustments of subsequent refunds, even while the appeal remained pending.
Casio India had filed its income tax return for Assessment Year 2009-10, which subsequently underwent scrutiny. This led to an assessment order being passed on May 15, 2013, under Section 143(3) read with Section 144C(13) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Aggrieved by this order, Casio filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) on May 31, 2013.
The company’s primary grievance, as presented to the High Court, was the prolonged pendency of this appeal, which, as of 2025, had remained undecided for over a decade. Compounding this delay, the tax authorities had recovered the entire disputed demand. Records presented to the court indicated that amounts totaling ₹52,44,900, ₹1,84,81,000, and ₹84,95,160 were adjusted from Casio’s refunds for Assessment Years 2021-22 and 2010-11 in March and April 2024. Additionally, ₹34,36,000 had been voluntarily paid by Casio in March 2019, representing 20% of the demand. The total recovery amounted to over ₹3.5 crore.
