Deep Vijaykumar Trivedi Vs DCIT (Gujarat High Court)
The writ petition before the Gujarat High Court challenged notices issued under Section 148A(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 29.03.2025, the order dated 12.06.2025 passed under Section 148A(3), and the consequential notice issued under Section 148 for Assessment Year 2019-20. The dispute arose from land transactions involving the petitioner and his family members, who had jointly purchased two parcels of land in 2013. Mutation entries were initially made in their favour, but subsequent proceedings regarding the validity of those entries led to disputes before the Deputy Collector, District Collector, and Special Secretary, Revenue Department (Appeals). During the pendency of those disputes, a third party sold the disputed property to another individual, leading the petitioner to file a police complaint alleging illegal possession. Eventually, the petitioner withdrew the civil suit after executing a sale deed dated 23.10.2019 in favour of the purchaser for consideration of Rs.80,00,000. Thereafter, the petitioner filed his return of income for Assessment Year 2019-20 declaring income of Rs.8,99,950.
Subsequently, a survey operation under Section 133A was conducted on 22.10.2024 in the case of Crown Decor Pvt. Ltd. During forensic analysis of digital devices found during the survey, authorities discovered in the mobile phone of one Praful Bhatt, an employee of Olympic Decor LLP, a PDF file containing a draft complaint allegedly written by one Ramesh Suthar along with an image of a handwritten paper. Based on these documents, summons under Section 131 were issued to both the petitioner and Shri Pradeep Joiser, and their statements were recorded. According to the revenue, the material indicated that the petitioner had entered into cash transactions connected with settlement of disputes relating to the land in question. Based on a Survey Dissemination Note uploaded on the Insight Portal on 17.03.2025, the impugned notice under Section 148A(1) was issued alleging escapement of income amounting to Rs.1,17,00,000. The petitioner submitted a detailed reply objecting to the proposed reassessment, but the respondent rejected the objections and passed the impugned order under Section 148A(3) followed by issuance of notice under Section 148.
