Dhanvirdhi Commotrade Private Limited & Anr v. Income Tax Officer, Ward 2(1), Kolkata & Ors

24.8.2023 ks sl. 2 ks WPA 17660 of 2023 Dhanvirdhi Commotrade Private Limited & Anr. VsIncome Tax Officer, Ward 2(1), Kolkata & Ors. Mr. Avra Mazumder,Mr. Suman Bhowmik,Mr. Samrat Das … For the Petitioners.Mr. Vipul Kundalia … For the Respondents Heard learned Advocates appearing for the parties. By this writ petition, petitioners have challengedthe legality and validity of the impugned notice underSection 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 19[th]April, 2023, relating to the assessment year 2019-20on the ground that the same has been issued by thejurisdictional Officer while the law requires that thesame has to be issued by the National FacelessAssessment Centre(NFAC). It is not a case that nonotice at all has been issued or served and I am of theconsidered view that mode of issuance or service ofnotice under Section 148 of the Act will not affect thecontents, substance or merit of the notice itself andchallenging the mode of service though it has beenreceived is a hyper technical ground, I am not inclinedto interfere with the aforesaid impugned notice onsuch ground since after the issuance of notice underSection 148 of the Act all subsequent notices like under Section 142(1), 143(2) and hearing notices shallhave to be issued by NFAC as per law. It is expected that this manner of service of noticeunder Section 148 of the Act by the jurisdictionalOfficer shall be avoided in future and necessary stepsshall be taken by the Principal Chief CIT to see thatthe notice under Section 148 of the Act subsequent toorder under Section 148A(d) of the Act is issued bystrictly following due procedure of law. Accordingly, this writ petition being WPA 17660 of2023 is dismissed. Petitioners will be entitled to take all other pointsraised in this writ petition in the proceedingssubsequent to the issuance of notice under Section148 of the Act. Learned Advocate appearing for therespondents/Income Tax Authority shall serve a copyof this order upon the Principal Chief Commissioner ofIncome Tax, West Bengal and Sikkim. ( Md. Nizamuddin, J. )