Bhartiben Dharmeshbhai Gathani Vs DCIT (Gujarat High Court)
Summary: The Gujarat High Court allowed the writ petition filed by Bhartiben Dharmeshbhai Gathani and quashed the notice dated 31.03.2025 issued under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the subsequent order dated 26.03.2026 passed under Section 153C and the demand notice dated 26.03.2026. The petitioner relied upon the judgment dated 18.11.2025 in Parag Rameshbhai Gathani v. Income Tax Officer, International Taxation, concerning the same land and the same search action conducted on 15.10.2019 in the case of Suresh R. Thakkar. The Court noted that in Parag Rameshbhai Gathani, the satisfaction note had been recorded after a delay of 22 months following completion of the searched person’s assessment, whereas in the present case the gap was more than four years. The Court adopted the reasoning in the earlier judgment. That reasoning relied upon Calcutta Knitwears and CBDT Circular No. 24/2015, which recognise stages for recording satisfaction under the search assessment provisions. The Court also recorded that the Special Leave Petition against the Parag Rameshbhai Gathani judgment, SLP (Civil) Diary No.16191 of 2026, had been dismissed by the Supreme Court on 02.04.2026. The writ petition was consequently allowed and the connected Civil Application did not survive.
