ITO Vs Mangalkamna Commosale Private Limited (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered a petition filed by the Income Tax Department challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order dated 29 August 2023, by which the respondent’s writ petition was allowed and the Department’s assessment order was set aside. The Supreme Court noted that the High Court had set aside the assessment on the ground that it was passed in violation of an interim order granted in favour of the assessee. As per the High Court record placed in the material, the writ petition before the Calcutta High Court challenged an assessment order dated 30 May 2023 passed under Section 147 read with Section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2013–14. The assessee contended that this reassessment order was issued contrary to a specific stay granted by the High Court on 15 March 2023 in WPO 398 of 2023, which restrained the Department from taking any further proceeding subsequent to the order under Section 148A(d) of the Act. During hearing of the writ petition, counsel for the Income Tax Authority was unable to contradict the assessee’s allegation that the reassessment order was passed despite the subsisting stay. Considering the record and submissions, the Calcutta High Court quashed the impugned assessment order dated 30 May 2023 and disposed of the writ petition (WPO 1534 of 2023).
Read HC Order: Section 147 Reassessment Invalid: Order Passed Despite Stay on Further Proceedings
In the proceedings before the Supreme Court, the petition filed against the High Court’s order was accompanied by an application seeking condonation of delay. The Supreme Court dismissed the application for condonation of delay and, consequently, dismissed the Special Leave Petition as well. The Supreme Court imposed costs of ₹50,000 for filing the petition after what it described as a “huge delay.” The Court directed that the costs be deposited within four weeks in the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund, giving details of the bank account (Canara Bank, South Block, Defence Headquarters, New Delhi, IFSC CNRB0019055, Account No. 90552010165915). The Registry was directed to forward a copy of the order to the specified email ID ([email protected]). Pending application(s) were also disposed of.
FULL TEXT OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT/ORDER
