M/S/ Exprezy Logistics Private Limited v. Income Tax Officer, Ward

Form No. J.(2)Item No.4 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT CALCUTTACIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTIONAPPELLATE SIDE HEARD ON: 02.01.2024 DELIVERED ON: 02.01.2024 CORAM:THE HON’BLE CHIEF JUSTICE T.S. SIVAGNANAMAND THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUPRATIM BHATTACHARYA M.A.T. 1624 of 2023 WithIA No. CAN 1 of 2023 M/s/ Exprezy Logistics Private Limited Vs. Income Tax Officer, Ward No. 5(1),Kolkata & Ors. Appearance:- Mr. Avra MazumderMr. Suman BhowmikMr. Samrat Das ………for the appellant Mr. Aryak Dutt………for the respondents JUDGMENT (Judgment of the Court was delivered by T.S. SIVAGNANAM, C.J.) 1.This intra-Court appeal by the writ petitioner is directed against the orderdated 17[th] July, 2023 in W.P.A. 14638 of 2023. In the said writ petition, theappellant had challenged the order dated 12[th ]April, 2023 passed undersection 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for brevity ‘the Act’) for theassessment year 2019-2020. dated 17[th] July, 2023 in W.P.A. 14638 of 2023. In the said writ petition, theappellant had challenged the order dated 12[th ]April, 2023 passed undersection 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for brevity ‘the Act’) for theassessment year 2019-2020. 2. 3. 4. As could be seen from the order passed by the learned Single Bench, thepoint, which was canvassed before the learned Single Bench was that theorder dated 12[th] April, 2023 has been passed without approval from thespecified authority as prescribed under section 151(ii) of the Act. Thelearned Single Bench has considered the said point and rejected thechallenge to the order dated 12[th] April, 2023 on the ground, which wasurged before the learned Single Bench. Today before us, learned advocate appearing for the appellant wouldsubmit that the appellant is not pressing the point concerning whether theapproval was obtained from the specified authority or not but moreimportantly, the appellant seeks to canvass the ground that the reply dated4[th] April , 2023 given to the show cause notice dated 17[th] March, 2023 hasnot been considered. Apart from that, it was submitted that in the orderdated 12[th] April, 2023 in paragraph 5 the authority has merely recordedthat the submissions of the assessee has been carefully gone through andthe ledger accounts, which were furnished by the assessee were kept onrecord without discussing about the documents, which were placed by theassessee nor considering the reply given by the assessee, more particularlythe reply dated 4th April, 2023. This contention raised by the appellant before us for the first time cannotbe considered in this appeal since this point appears to have not beenurged before the learned Single Bench, though it is stated that specificpleading has been made to the said effect in the writ petition. Therefore, theonly remedy available to the appellant is to file a review before the learned Single Bench and canvass the other grounds, which have been raised inthe writ petition. 5.For the above reasons, the appeal stands disposed of along with theconnected application by giving liberty to the appellant to raise allcontentions except the contention with regard to whether approval wasobtained from the specified authority or not. 6.If such review application is filed, the learned Single Bench is requested toconsider the other points, which may be urged by the appellant in the saidreview application. 7.No costs. 8.Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be furnished tothe parties expeditiously upon compliance of all legal formalities. (T.S. SIVAGNANAM) CHIEF JUSTICEI agree. (SUPRATIM BHATTACHARYA, J.) Pallab/KS AR(Ct.)