Unique Engineering Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Vs ACIT (Telangana High Court)
Telangana High Court held that issuance of garnishee notice attaching bank account despite pendency of appeal and stay application is not sustainable and same deserved to be set aside. Accordingly, writ petition disposed of.
Facts- The challenge in the present writ petition is to the action on the part of respondent No.1 in using garnishee notices dated 08.01.2025 attaching the bank accounts of the petitioner. The said garnishee notices seems to have been issued pursuant to an assessment order for the assessment year 2022-23 and the order of assessment is dated 27.03.2024 and a subsequent penalty order dated 17.09.2024 has been passed. Being aggrieved by the assessment order and the order of penalty passed by respondent No.2, the petitioner herein had preferred two appeals before respondent No.3 on 18.04.2024 along with a stay application. Both the appeal as well as the stay application is still pending consideration before respondent No.3. Meanwhile, the respondents have now issued the said impugned garnishee notices.
Conclusion- Held that when the petitioner has availed his right of appeal along with the petition for grant of stay, it was incumbent upon the authorities to take up the stay application and decide the same at the first instance or decide the appeal itself as expeditiously as possible rather than sitting over the appeal on the one hand and at the same time initiating steps for getting the order of assessment and the order of penalty being executed by resorting to coercive steps. For the said reason, we are the considered opinion that the impugned garnish notice dated 08.01.2025 to the aforesaid extent is not sustainable and the same deserves to be and is, accordingly, set aside. The respondents are directed to take up the appeal as well as the stay application at the first stance and thereafter proceed in accordance with law. The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of.
