Atul Projects India Private Limited Vs Union of India and anr. (Bombay High Court)
Bombay High Court considered a challenge by Atul Projects India Private Limited concerning the limitation for issuance of a scrutiny assessment notice after defects in the assessee’s original income-tax return had been rectified. The petitioner had filed its return for Assessment Year 2016-17, in which the Income Tax Department pointed out certain defects. According to the petitioner, those defects were removed within the time permitted by the Department. Thereafter, the Assessing Officer issued a notice for scrutiny assessment.
The petitioner contended that the scrutiny notice had been issued beyond the prescribed limitation period if limitation was computed from the date on which the original return had been filed. The Department, however, took the position that limitation should be reckoned from the date on which the defects in the return were removed. The dispute before the Bombay High Court therefore concerned the effect of curing defects in an already-filed return upon the starting point for computing the limitation period for scrutiny proceedings.
Counsel for the petitioner argued that once the defects were removed, such removal would relate back to the date on which the original return had been filed. In support of this proposition, reliance was placed upon Commissioner of Income Tax Vs. Sohan Lal Chhajan Mal, a decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. That decision, in turn, referred to CIT Vs. Bharat Refineries Ltd. of the Calcutta High Court. The petitioner also relied upon Prime Securities Limited Vs. Varinder Mehta, Assistant Commissioner of Income-Tax, a decision of the Bombay High Court.
