M/S. Devout Dealers Pvt. Ltd v. The Union Of India & Ors.with

14-03-2022Item No.—13(p.b.) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTAConstitutional Writ JurisdictionAppellate Side WPA No.3640 of 2022 M/s. Devout Dealers Pvt. Ltd. -vs- The Union of India & Ors.With WPA Nos. 3642/2022, 3643/2022, 3651/2022,3653/2022, 3666/2022, 3778/2022,3783/2022, 3785/2022, 3789/2022,3791/2022, 4069/2022, 4201/2022,4205/2022, 4207/2022, 4208/2022,4209/2022, 4211/2022, 4219/2022,4295/2022, 4296/2022, 4301/2022,4304/2022. Mr. Avra Mazumder, Mr. Bilwal Hossain, Ms. Sudeshna Mazumder, Ms. Anupa Banerjee, Ms. Arijita Ghosh, Mr. Brijesh Singh, Mr. L. Agarwal,Mr. R. Chatterjee, …for the petitioner Mr. Tilak Mitra, Mr. Aryak Dutta, Mr. Amit Sharma, …….for the respondents. Heard Learned Counsel appearing for the parties. In view of involvement of common question of law andsimilarity of facts in all these Writ Petitions, with theconsent of the parties all these Writ Petitions have beenheard together and are being decided by the present common judgment and order. Common facts and issues involved in all these WritPetitions as appear on perusal of relevant record and uponconsidering the submissions of the parties are that thepetitioners are aggrieved by the issuance of impugnednotices under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 onthe ground that the same are barred by limitation and therespondent Income Tax Authority concerned, before issuingthe impugned notices under Section 148 of the Income TaxAct, have not observed the statutory formalities underSection 148 A of the Income Tax Act as prescribed by theFinance Act, 2021 which are applicable with effect from 1[st]April, 2021 before issuance of notices under Section 148 ofthe Act on or after 1[st] April, 2021. Issues arising in all the present Writ Petitions arepurely legal and in all these Writ Petitions theassessees/petitioners have sought relief of quashing of theimpugned re-assessment notices issued post 31[st] March,2021 by the respondent Income Tax Authority concernedunder Section 148 of the Income Tax Act,assessees/petitioners have also sought relief by way of adeclaration declaring Explanations A(a)(ii)/A(b) to theNotification No. 20 [S.O. 1432 (E) dated 31[st] March, 2021and Notification No. 38 [S.O.1703 (E)] dated 27[th] April, 2021to the extent that the same extend the applicability of the“provisions of Section 148, Section 149 and Section 151 of the Act, as the case may be, as they stood as on the 31[st]March, 2021, before the commencement of the Finance Act,2021” to the period beyond 31[st] March, 2021 as ultra viresthe parent legislation, viz., The Taxation and Other Laws(Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act,2020 (hereinafter referred to as ‘ Relaxation Act, 2020’). At the outset, all the counsel appearing for the partiesjointly submitted that the issues involved in these WritPetitions are covered by the decision of the Division Benchof the Allahabad High Court dated 30[th] September, 2021 inthe case of ‘Ashok Kumar Agarwal –vs- Union of Indiathrough its Revenue Secretary North Block & Ors.’ (Writ TaxNo. 524/2021) decided in favour of assessees/petitionerson 30.09.2021 and order of Rajasthan High Court dated25[th] November, 2021 in the case of Bpip Infra PrivateLimited –vs.- Income Tax Officer, Ward 4 (1), Jaipur (S. B.Civil Writ Petition No.13297/2021) and the order of DelhiHigh Court 15[th] December, 2021 in the case of Man MohanKohli –vs- Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr. in(W.P. (C) 6176 of 2021) and judgment and order of thisCourt dated 17[th] January, 2022 in the case of Manoj JainVs. Union of India & Ors. in WPA No.11950 of 2021 and inthe case of Bagaria Properties and Investment PrivateLimited & Anr. in WPO 244 of 2021. In view of judgments and orders of this Court dated17[th] January, 2022 in the case of Manoj Jain Vs. Union of In view of judgments and orders of this Court dated17[th] January, 2022 in the case of Manoj Jain Vs. Union of India & Ors. in WPA No.11950 of 2021 and in the case ofBagaria Properties and Investment Private Limited & Anr. inWPO 244 of 2021, all these writ petitions herein aredisposed of by allowing the same. Explanations A(a)(ii)/A(b)to the Notifications dated 31st March, 2021 and 27th April,2021 are declared to be ultra vires the Relaxation Act, 2020and are therefore bad in law and null and void. All theimpugned notices under Section 148 of the Income Tax Actare quashed with liberty to the Assessing Officersconcerned to initiate fresh re-assessment proceedings inaccordance with the relevant provisions of the Act asamended by Finance Act, 2021 and after makingcompliance of the formalities as required by the law. Urgent certified photo copy of this judgment, if appliedfor, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with allrequisite formalities. [Md. Nizamuddin, J]