Anjana Kothari v. Principal Commissioner Of Income Tax-1, Jodhpur

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN ATJODHPUR S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 7128/2020 Anjana Kothari W/o Sh. Dileep Kothari, Aged About 53 Years, R/o12-B Civil Lines, Old Residency Road, Jodhpur (Raj.) ----Petitioner Versus 1. Principal Commissioner Of Income Tax-1, Jodhpur 2. Income Tax Officer, Ward 1 (1), Jodhpur, Rajasthan. 3. Commissioner Of Income Tax (Appeals), Jodhpur ----Respondents For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Muktesh Maheshwari withMr. Aidan ChoudharyFor Respondent(s): HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI 18/03/2021 Order 1.In wake of onslaught of COVID-19, abundant caution is beingtaken while hearing the matters in Court. 2.This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution ofIndia has been preferred claiming the following reliefs: “1. By appropriate writ, order or direction, therespondent No.2 may be directed to let petitionerinspect the complete record of the case and providethe complete certified copies of the complete file ofthe petitioner as demanded in the various applicationsfiled by petitioner, including but not limited to thecertified copies of the return of income of thepetitioner for the AY 1996-97 along with all itsannexures; 2. By appropriate writ, order or direction, therespondent No.3 be directed to not proceed with the Appeal proceedings filed by the petitioner, until all therequired documents are obtained by the petitioner.3. By appropriate writ, order or direction, anyproceedings undertaken by the respondent in absenceof, or before providing the certified copies of all therelevant documents to the petitioner, may bedeclared illegal and arbitrary and be quashed and setaside.” 3.Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as well as perusedthe record of the case. 4.In a similar matter being S.B. Civil Writ PetitionNo.7114/2020 (Dileep Kothari Vs. Principal Commissionerof Income Tax-1, Jodhpur & Anr.) decided on 18.08.2020, thisHon’ble Court had passed the following order: “Aggrieved with the demand raised by theIncome Tax Department under Section 147 readwith Section 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, videassessment order dated 28.12.2019, the petitionerhas preferred an appeal before the Commissioner ofthe Income Tax Appeal and the said appeal ispending. It is contended by learned counsel for thepetitioner that for the purpose of contesting the saidappeal, he has requested the Income TaxDepartment to supply him certain documents, suchas the certified copy of the income tax return withall accompanying annexures filed by the petitionerfor the assessment year 1996-97, however, theIncome Tax Department has refused to supply thesame while stating that the said documents are nottraceable. Learned counsel for the petitioner hassubmitted that a direction be issued to the IncomeTax Department to supply the copies of thedocuments demanded by the petitioner. Having heard the learned counsel for thepetitioner and after going through the materialavailable on record, this Court is of the opinion thatthe relief prayed for by the petitioner in this writpetition cannot be granted in view of the fact that when the documents demanded by the petitionerare not available with the Income Tax Department,no such direction of supplying them can be given.Moreover, the petitioner can very well approach theappellate court, where his appeal against theimpugned assessment order is pending, forappropriate direction to the authorities of theIncome Tax Department to produce the relevantrecord. With these observations, this writ petition isdismissed.” Having heard the learned counsel for thepetitioner and after going through the materialavailable on record, this Court is of the opinion thatthe relief prayed for by the petitioner in this writpetition cannot be granted in view of the fact that when the documents demanded by the petitionerare not available with the Income Tax Department,no such direction of supplying them can be given.Moreover, the petitioner can very well approach theappellate court, where his appeal against theimpugned assessment order is pending, forappropriate direction to the authorities of theIncome Tax Department to produce the relevantrecord. With these observations, this writ petition isdismissed.” 5.In light of the aforequoted order, the present petition isdisposed of with liberty to the petitioner to take up all her issuesregarding receiving the documents in question, as required for herdefence before the learned appellate court, strictly in accordancewith law. The stay application as well as all pending applicationsalso stand disposed of accordingly. 21-SKant/- (DR.PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI),J.