Nafr v. Principal Commissioner Of Income-Tax, Aaykar Bhawan, Near Vyapar Vihar,Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR TAXC No. 19 of 2018 Smt. Meera Devi Agrawal, Legal Heir of Late Shri Narayan Prasad Agrawal, Prop.M/s. Shivnathrai Rambhajan, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. ---- Appellant Versus Principal Commissioner of Income-Tax, Aaykar Bhawan, Near Vyapar Vihar,Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. ---- Respondent For AppellantFor Respondent : Mr. S. Rajeshwara Rao, Advocate : Ms. Naushina Afrin Ali, Advocate Hon'ble Shri Prashant Kumar Mishra, Acting Chief JusticeHon'ble Shri Parth Prateem Sahu, Judge Judgment on Board Per Prashant Kumar Mishra, Acting Chief Justice 03/04/2019 1.Although this appeal has been entertained on a substantial question of law,but what we have gathered after hearing learned counsel for the parties is that forassessment year 2002-03, an assessment order was passed on 28/12/2006,against which, the matter eventually proceeded up to the Tribunal which passedthe order on 31/01/2012 based on consent accorded by learned counsel for theparties for setting aside the assessment order of the Assessing Officer for freshconsideration by the Assessing Officer including the cross-objection filed by theassessee challenging invocation of the provisions of Section 147 of the Income TaxAct, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the 'I.T. Act'). 2.After the remit, the Assessing Officer passed fresh assessment order on06/03/2013. Thereafter, the present impugned order has been passed by theTribunal again setting aside the order of Assessing Officer and remitting the matterback to the Assessing Officer. 06/03/2013. Thereafter, the present impugned order has been passed by theTribunal again setting aside the order of Assessing Officer and remitting the matterback to the Assessing Officer. Yogesh 3.On both the occasions, the Tribunal passed the order of remand on theground that notice under Section 148 of the I.T. Act referred to some assessmentby the Sales Tax Department which had not attained finality. Therefore, since thevery basis of the assessment proceeding under Section 148 of the I.T Act wasbased on an assessment proceeding by the Sales Tax Department, which couldnot be finalized, the income tax assessment should not be finalized unless thesales tax issue is finally concluded. However, after the Tribunal's impugned order,the assessee has informed Income-tax Officer-1, Raigarh on 27/03/2018 that theSales Tax issue has also attained finality as no proceeding either on behalf of theassessee or by the Sales Tax Department is pending before the High Court. 4.If that is the stage of assessment undertaken by the Sales Tax Department,it is for the Tribunal to decide the matter on merits both on factual and legal scoreincluding the issue pertaining to the validity of notice under Section 148 of the I.T.Act. 5.Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. The impugned order dated 15/01/2018(Annexure A/1) is set aside and the matter is remanded back to the Tribunal fordeciding the assessee's appeal on merits in accordance with law. It is made clearthat we have not expressed any opinion on merits of the issue which shall be dealtwith by the Tribunal on the basis of the material available on record. 6.For the nature of order passed above by us, the substantial question is notrequired to be decided at this stage. It is left open to be decided at an appropriatestage, if occasion arises. Sd/- Sd/- (Prashant Kumar Mishra) Acting Chief Justice (Parth Prateem Sahu) Judge