P/1/1)Pradeep Mehta v. Chief Commissioner Of Income Tax

D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 6899/2014 Padam Chand Mehta, through LRs (P/1/1)Pradeep Mehta S/o Late Sh. Padam Chand Mehta,Aged About 60 Years, R/o O-12, Haridwar, EvershineNagar, Malad (W), Mumbai-064Aged About 60 Years, R/o O-12, Haridwar, EvershineNagar, Malad (W), Mumbai-064 (P/1/2)Rajni Shahlot D/o Late Sh. Padam Chand Mehta, W/oLate Sh. Sudhir Shahlot, Aged About 56 Years, R/oIndradhanu Appartments, Fifth Floor, 188 ShivajiNagar, Cement Road, Nagpur- 010Late Sh. Sudhir Shahlot, Aged About 56 Years, R/oIndradhanu Appartments, Fifth Floor, 188 ShivajiNagar, Cement Road, Nagpur- 010 (P/1/3)Ekta Garg D/o Late Sh. Padam Chand Mehta, W/o Sh.Shailesh Garg, Aged About 50 Years, R/o A-103, SwatiCrimson, Opposite Dwarkesh Greens, Near VenetionVilla, Shailaj, Ahmedabad 059 (Guj.).Shailesh Garg, Aged About 50 Years, R/o A-103, SwatiCrimson, Opposite Dwarkesh Greens, Near VenetionVilla, Shailaj, Ahmedabad 059 (Guj.). (P/1/4) Sweta Mehta D/o Late Sh. Padam Chand Mehta, W/oShri Jitendra Mehta, Aged About 47 Years, R/o Plot No.116, Ward 10-A, Opposite Iffco Colony, Gandhidham,Kutch 201 (Guj.).Shri Jitendra Mehta, Aged About 47 Years, R/o Plot No.116, Ward 10-A, Opposite Iffco Colony, Gandhidham,Kutch 201 (Guj.). ----Petitioners Versus 1. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Aaykar-Bhawan, Paota C Road Jodhpur 2.Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, CentralizedProcessing Centre (Cpc), Income Tax DepartmentElectronic City Post Office, Post Bag No. 2 Banglore,District Karnataka.Processing Centre (Cpc), Income Tax DepartmentElectronic City Post Office, Post Bag No. 2 Banglore,District Karnataka. 3. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Circle-3 Aaykar-Bhawan, Paota C Road Jodhpur For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Sharad KothariFor Respondent(s): Mr. K.K. BissaMr. H.G. Chanda HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAY BISHNOI HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE NUPUR BHATI Judgment / Order 19/12/2023 This writ petition is filed by Shri Padam Chand Mehta(assessee) being aggrieved with the order dated 31.3.2014passed by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Jodhpur,whereby his application seeking waiver of interest under Section234B and 234C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short ‘the Act of1961’) has been rejected. During pendency of the writ petition, Sh. Mehta expired andhis legal representatives were taken on record. The facts, which are not in dispute, are that late Sh. Mehtawas earning mainly out of speculation business of gwar-dal andwas regularly paying tax by filing income tax returns. For thefinancial year 2011-12, late Sh. Mehta has filed income tax returnand has also paid advance tax in the months of September andDecember, 2011. He has also paid the last installment of advancetax in March, 2012 before the due date of deposition of thirdinstallment of advance tax. Sh. Mehta has filed his return ofincome tax for assessment year 2012-13 (financial year 2011-12)declaring income of Rs.13,34,22,780/- and paid Rs.4,06,71,161/-as income tax. The Assistant Commissioner, Central Processing Centre,Bangalore has duly assessed the return of income of Sh. Mehtaand imposed interest under Section 234B and 234C of the Act of1961 vide assessment order dated 3.1.2013. Being aggrieved with the same, Sh. Mehta has filed anapplication on 4.3.2013 seeking waiver of interest as per theNotification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes from timeto time while exercising powers available to it under Section 119of the Act of 1961. The said application came to be dismissed videorder impugned. Hence, this writ petition. The Assistant Commissioner, Central Processing Centre,Bangalore has duly assessed the return of income of Sh. Mehtaand imposed interest under Section 234B and 234C of the Act of1961 vide assessment order dated 3.1.2013. Being aggrieved with the same, Sh. Mehta has filed anapplication on 4.3.2013 seeking waiver of interest as per theNotification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes from timeto time while exercising powers available to it under Section 119of the Act of 1961. The said application came to be dismissed videorder impugned. Hence, this writ petition. The main contention of learned counsel for the petitioners isthat the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax has not exercised thepowers of waiver of interest vested in him judiciously and hasrejected the application of the petitioner for waiver of interestunder Section 234B and 234C of the Act of 1961 in a mechanicalmanner by not giving convincing reasons. Several other groundshave also been raised by the petitioners in this writ petition. Having gone through the application filed by Sh. Mehtaseeking waiver of interest under Section 234B and 234C of the Actof 1961 and the impugned order passed by the ChiefCommissioner of Income Tax, Jodhpur dated 31.3.2014, we are ofthe view that the aforesaid application is decided in a mechanicalmanner without giving any convincing reason. Learned counsel for the respondents has frankly admittedthat the reasons supplied by the Chief Commissioner of IncomeTax for rejecting the application filed by Sh. Mehta seeking waiverof interest under Section 234B and 234C of the Act of 1961 arenot convincing. In such circumstances, without going into the merits of thecase, we deem it appropriate to set aside the order dated31.3.2014 (Annex./14) passed by the Chief Commissioner ofIncome Tax, Jodhpur and remanding the matter back to it forreconsideration of the application filed by Sh. Mehta seekingwaiver of interest under Section 234B and 234C of the Act of1961. Needless to say, before passing a final order on the saidapplication, the authority concerned shall provide sufficientopportunity of hearing to the petitioners. The petitioners are freeto raise all the available grounds before the Chief Commissioner ofIncome Tax, Jodhpur including the grounds raised in the writpetition. The Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Jodhpur, afterconsidering all the grounds raised by the petitioners, shall pass afresh order on the application filed by Sh. Mehta seeking waiver ofinterest under Section 234B and 234C of the Act of 1961 by areasoned and speaking order within a period of three months fromthe date, the petitioners appear before it. The petitioners are directed to appear before the ChiefCommissioner of Income Tax, Jodhpur on 22.1.2024. With these observations, this writ petition is disposed of. (DR. NUPUR BHATI),J (VIJAY BISHNOI),J 35 – ms rathore