Vaidyanathan Natarajn v. Pr. Commissioner Of Income Tax 1 And Ors

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAYCIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 14117 OF 2023 Vaidyanathan Natarajn VersusPr. Commissioner Of Income Tax 1 And Ors ...Petitioner ...Respondents ---- Mr. Vasudev Ginde i/b Mr. Kumar Kale for Petitioner.Ms Samiksha Kanani i/b Mr. Ajeet Manwani for Respondents. ---- CORAM : K. R. SHRIRAM & Dr. NEELA GOKHALE, JJ.DATED : 4[th] DECEMBER 2023 P.C. : 1After the petition was heard for sometime, Ms Kanani, as an officer ofthis court, in fairness agreed with the court that Section 264 of the IncomeTax Act 1961 (the Act) confers wide jurisdiction on the Commissioner.Proceedings under Section 264 of the Act are intended to meet the situationfaced by an aggrieved assessee who is unable to approach the appellateauthority for relief and has no other alternate remedy available under theAct. The Commissioner is bound to apply his mind to the question and itwould even cover situations where the assessee because of an error has notput forth a legitimate claim at the time of filing the return and the error issubsequently discovered and is raised for the first time in an applicationunder Section 264 of the Act (Smita Rohit Gupta V/s. Principal1Commissioner of Income Tax-1 & Ors.). Ms Kanani states that the 12023 SCC Online Bom 1861 impugned order dated 31[st] March 2023 be quashed and set aside andremand the matter for consideration on the merits of the application underSection 264 of the Act. 2In view of the above, the impugned order dated 31[st] March 2023 ishereby quashed and set aside. Delay is condoned. The matter is remandedto respondent no.1 for denovo consideration on merits. 3 Before passing any order, respondent no.1 shall give a personalhearing to petitioner, notice whereof shall be communicated atleast 7working days in advance. The order to be passed shall be a reasoned orderdealing with every submission of petitioner. Since, petitioner is over 81years old, respondent no.1 is directed to dispose the application underSection 264 of the Act on or before 31[st] January 2024. 4Petition disposed. 5We clarify that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter. (Dr. NEELA GOKHALE, J.) (K. R. SHRIRAM, J.)