Case Law Details
Chhagan Chandrakant Bhujbal Vs ITO (Bombay High Court)
Power vested in the commissioner under Section 151 of the Act to grant or not to grant approval to the Assessing Officer to re-open an assessment is coupled with duty and the commissioner is duty bound to apply his mind to the proposal put up to him for the approval in the light of the material relied upon by the Assessing Officer and such power cannot be exercised casually, in a routine and perfunctory manner. The court held in the facts and circumstances of that case that the approval in that case granted suffers from non-application of mind. It was in the peculiar facts and circumstances of that case. In the case at hand, there is nothing to indicate that there was non-application of mind. Merely because information was received at 5.47 p.m. and the notice was issued by 10.49 p.m. would not mean that there has been non-application of mind. If we hold that it would be merely speculative and based on conjecture.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF BOMBAY HIGH COURT
1. Since pleadings in the petition are completed, we have decided to dispose the petition at admission stage itself.
2. Petitioner is impugning notice dated 31st March, 2019 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act) stating that respondents have reasons to believe that income chargeable to tax for the A.Y. 2012-13 has escaped assessment within the meaning of Section 147 of the Act.
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