Apot/355/2023 Ia No: Ga/1/2023 Churiwal Commercial Company Private Limited v. The Income Tax Officer, Ward 6(1), Kolkata & Ors

OD-16 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ORIGINAL SIDE APOT/355/2023 IA NO: GA/1/2023 CHURIWAL COMMERCIAL COMPANY PRIVATE LIMITED VS. THE INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD 6(1), KOLKATA & ORS. BEFORE : THE HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE T.S. SIVAGNANAM And THE HON’BLE JUSTICE HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA Date : 24[th] May, 2024 Appearance : Mr. Rajarshi Chatterjee, Adv. Ms. Suman Saheni, Adv. …for Appellant Mr. Aryak Dutt, Adv. …for respondents The Court : This intra-court appeal by the writ petitioner is directed against the order dated 5[th] September, 2023 in WPO 1532 of 2023. The appellant had challenged the re-assessment order dated 30[th] May, 2023 passed under Section 147 read with Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act). The learned Single Bench dismissed the writ petition primarily on two grounds, firstly, the appellant had not been diligent in prosecuting the alternative remedies and secondly, as against the re-assessment order a statutory appeal is maintainable. After we have elaborately heard Mr. Rajarshi Chatterjee, learned Counsel for the appellant/assessee and Mr. Aryak Dutt, learned Counsel for the respondents, we find complicated questions of facts are required to be gone into. It is not as if the appellant/assessee did not have an opportunity since the appellant/assessee had responded to the show cause notice by sending reply dated 22[nd] May, 2023. This reply has been considered and a conclusion has been drawn. The correctness of the conclusion drawn in the re-assessment order can be adjudicated only by the Appellate authority as disputed questions of fact are to be gone into. Therefore, we are of the view that the appellant should exercise statutory appellate remedy under the Act. For the above reasons, the appeal is dismissed with liberty to the appellant to file an appeal before the statutory Appellate authority within 60(sixty) days from the date of receipt of the server copy of this order. If such appeal is filed, the Appellate authority shall not reject the appeal on the ground of limitation. The application IA No: GA/1/2023 is also dismissed. (T.S. SIVAGNANAM, C.J.) (HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, J.)