PCIT Vs Montecarlo Limited (Supreme Court of India)
The Revenue filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court challenging the judgment of the Gujarat High Court, which had dismissed a tax appeal arising from an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal for Assessment Year 2017–18. The Tribunal had deleted a disallowance of ₹86.52 crore made under Section 80IA(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, holding that the assessee was a developer of infrastructure facilities and not merely a contractor, and therefore eligible for deduction.
Read Gujarat HC Judgment: Gujarat HC Allowed Section 80IA Deduction as Assessee Held to Be Infrastructure Developer
The Supreme Court noted that there was an unexplained delay of 358 days in filing the SLP. It further observed that the judgment relied upon by the High Court, on the basis of which the impugned order had been passed, had not been challenged earlier and had attained finality. On these grounds, the Supreme Court dismissed the SLP both on the ground of delay and on merits, thereby affirming the High Court’s decision.
Before the High Court, the Revenue had proposed the question of law as to whether the Tribunal erred in allowing deduction under Section 80IA(4) by treating the assessee as a developer rather than a contractor. The High Court recorded that the issue was no longer res integra, as it had already been decided by the same Court in Tax Appeal No. 786 of 2023 for Assessment Year 2008–09, involving the same assessee and based on the same Tribunal order. In that earlier decision, the High Court had dismissed the Revenue’s appeal on identical grounds.
