Wa/491/2012 Of Smt. Usha Murugan v. The Commissioner Of Income Tax Kottayam

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR & THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE BABU MATHEW P.JOSEPH FRIDAY, THE 16TH DAY OF MARCH 2012/26TH PHALGUNA 1933 WA.No. 491 of 2012 () IN RP/177/2012 ------------------------------------- AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT IN RP.177/2012 DATED 06-03-2012 APPELLANT(S)/PETITIONER: ----------------------- SMT. USHA MURUGAN LEGAL HEIR OF LATE T.MURUGAN, M/S.MEENAKSHY LUCKY CENTRE Y.M.C.A ROAD, KOTTAYAM REPRESENTING THE DECEASED BY ADVS.SRI.T.M.SREEDHARAN (SR.) SMT.NISHA JOHN SRI.V.P.NARAYANAN SMT.BOBY M.SEKHAR RESPONDENT(S)/RESPONDENTS: -------------------------- 1. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, CIRCLE-1 KOTTAYAM KOTTAYAM 2. THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (APPEALS)-IV AYYAKKAR BHAVAN, I.S PRESS ROAD, COCHIN - 682 018 3. INDUSIND BANK LTD., KOTTAYAM BRANCH, REGENCY SQUARE, K.K. ROAD, COLLECTORATE P.O., KOTTAYAM - 686 002. 4. AXIS BANK, NO.LX 311, A2 CENTURY TOWERS, NEAR Y.W.C.A, KOTTAYAM - 686 001. 5. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, P.B. NO.135, SHANGRI-LA PLAZA, T.B. ROAD, KOTTAYAM - 686 001. 6. TAMIL NADU MERCHANTILE BANK LTD., CSI COMMERCIAL COMPLEX, BAKER JUNCTION, KOTTAYAM - 686 001. 7. CORPORATION BANK, KOTTAYAM BRANCH, VALAYIL BUILDING, SHASTRI ROAD, KOTTAYAM - 686 001. 8. THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, CIRCLE-1, PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING, SHASHTRY ROAD, KOTTAYAM. PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING, SHASHTRY ROAD, KOTTAYAM. BY SRI.JOSE JOSEPH, SC, FOR INCOME TAX R7 BY MR.N.RAJAGOPALAN NAIR THIS WRIT APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 16-03-2012,THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR & BABU MATHEW P. JOSEPH, JJ. .................................................................... W.A.No. 491 of 2012 .................................................................... Dated this the 16[th] day of March, 2012. J U D G M E N T Ramachandran Nair, J. This Writ Appeal is filed against the order of the learned Single Judge in R.P.No.177/2012 in WP(C) No.3724/2012directing payment of 50% of the demand as condition for stayagainst recovery of tax for the assessment year 2008-09. Thedemand is around Rs.4 crores and the appeal filed against thesame is pending before the first appellate authority. LearnedSenior counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that thedemand is attributable to disallowance of expenditure underSection 40A(ia) of the Income Tax Act on account of assessee'sfailure to deduct tax at source on commission payments inlottery business. Learned counsel submitted that appeal filedfor the preceding year on the same issue also is pending andstay has been granted by the Assessing Officer on payment ofRs.20 lakhs. Having regard to the contentions raised, we feelconditional stay order can be modified by directing payment of Rs.50 lakhs instead of 50% ordered by the learned Single Judgeon condition that the payment will be made on or before30/03/2012. However, since the learned Standing Counselsubmitted that demand for several other years and in respectof connected firms are pending against the appellant, whichare not subject matter of this Writ Appeal, we leave it open tothe Department to proceed for recovery in other cases limitingthe stay granted by us under this judgment only for thedemand of Rs.3,96,11,900/- for the year 2008-09 that too oncondition of payment of Rs.50 lakhs. Recovery of demand forthe year will remain stayed till 30/03/2012 and if Rs.50 lakhsis paid, recovery will remain stayed till disposal of the appealby the CIT (Appeals). The CIT (Appeals) is directed to disposeof all pending appeals of the deceased assessee within aperiod of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of thisjudgment. This Writ Appeal is disposed of as above. (C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR, JUDGE) (BABU MATHEW P. JOSEPH, JUDGE)