Wp/23969/2022 Of Expressway Services Private Limited v. Deputy Commissioner Of Income-Tax

HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD(Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE FIFTH DAY OF SEPTEIUBERTWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY TWO PRESENT THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYANANDTHE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. BHASKAR REDDY WRIT PETITION NO: 23969 OF 2022 Between: Expressway Services Private Limited, Duly represented by Sri K. Dixit Rao, DirectorRegd. Office.D Block, 4th Floor, Wing 1, Cyber Gateway, Hitech City, MadhapurHyderabad - 500081 ...PETITIONER AND 1Deputy Commissioner of lncome-Tax, (Central Circle), Circle-2(4), 6th Floor,Aayakar Bhavan, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad.Aayakar Bhavan, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad. 2Principal Commissioner of lncome-Tax, Central Circle, 7th Floor, AayakarBhavan, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad.Bhavan, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in thecircumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may becircumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may bepleased to issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other writ, order ordirection, directing that the petitioner should not be treated as being in default fornon-payment of the tax of Rs.3,67,20,0181 determined vide assessment orderdated 26-28.03.20221or the assessment years 2018-'19 to 2020-21 and to declarethat the petitioner is entitled to stay of collection of the said demand during thedirection, directing that the petitioner should not be treated as being in default fornon-payment of the tax of Rs.3,67,20,0181 determined vide assessment orderdated 26-28.03.20221or the assessment years 2018-'19 to 2020-21 and to declarethat the petitioner is entitled to stay of collection of the said demand during thependency of the income tax appeal before the CIT(A). lA NO: 1 OF 2022 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated inthe affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to staycollection of tax demand of Rs.3,67,20,0181- Ior Assessment Years 2018-19 to2020-21 , vide Assessment Orders dated 28.03.2022 and 26.03.2022 passed by I I Respondent No.1 rnder PANo.AACCE9241Q, pending rlis[,o:;al of the above WritPetition. lA NO: 3 OF 2022 Petition unc :r Section 151 CPC praying that in the cirr.'umstances stated inthe affidavit filed n support of the [petition, ]the High Oot rt may be [pleased ]topermit the petitr )ner to correct the amount of Tzr due to read asRs.18,36,00,0911 n the place of Rs.3,67,20,018^ in the pral'er portion of the writpetition. Counsel for the P. titioner: SRI Y. RATNAKAR Counsel for the R spondents: Mr. AJAY KUMAR KULKAFN , REP. FORSRI B. NARASIMHA SARMA, Sr. S.C. '-:'.:t INCOME TAX The Court made tl e following: ORDER THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE UJJAL BHIIYANAND THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.BHASKAR REDDY Writ Petition No.23969 of 2022 ORDER: ('er the Ilot'bte the CtnelJustre ULj.ll lltruLll't) Hcard Mr. Y. Ratnakar, lcarncd counscl lor thepetitioncr, and Mr. Ajay Kumar Kulkarni, learrred counselfor the respondents rcprcscnting Mr. B. Narasimha Sarma,learncd Scnior Standing Counscl for thc Incomc TaxDepartm cn t. 2. (iricvancc of thc petitioncr is that u,hile thc appcalsiiled by it arc pending bcftrrc thc first appcllatc authority,respondents are insisting on paymcnt of demand as per theassessment ordcrs undcr considcration.3. Petitioner is an assessec undcr thc Incomc Tax Act, 196 I (bricfly, 'thc Act' hcrcinaftcr) having thc status ol aprivate limitcd companv. [)ctitioncr is cngaged in thcbusiness of civil consl-ruction as li,cll as supplyingmanpower to civil construction companics. lror thcassessment year 20 i B- I 9, pctitioncr was assesscd by theassessing officer vidc thc asscssmcnt ordcr dated28.O3.2022 passed undcr Scc:tion 143(3) read with Section153C of thc Act r,r,hercbv ccrtain additions wcrc madc to 2. (iricvancc of thc petitioncr is that u,hile thc appcalsiiled by it arc pending bcftrrc thc first appcllatc authority,respondents are insisting on paymcnt of demand as per theassessment ordcrs undcr considcration.3. Petitioner is an assessec undcr thc Incomc Tax Act, 196 I (bricfly, 'thc Act' hcrcinaftcr) having thc status ol aprivate limitcd companv. [)ctitioncr is cngaged in thcbusiness of civil consl-ruction as li,cll as supplyingmanpower to civil construction companics. lror thcassessment year 20 i B- I 9, pctitioncr was assesscd by theassessing officer vidc thc asscssmcnt ordcr dated28.O3.2022 passed undcr Scc:tion 143(3) read with Section153C of thc Act r,r,hercbv ccrtain additions wcrc madc to the incomt of the pr:titioncr. Conscqucntl_\' r(,1id ir<:omc ofthc pctitior cr \\,as asscsscd at Rs.13,20,?,6 2\,+ I l.'or th<:IlSSC S SM L] Nvcar 20 19 20, pctitionor was as i,lss( d undcrSection 14 3t.)) re:rd $,ith Section 153C oi thc A< t bl thr:assessing t l-liccr, vidc thc ordcr datcd 28.O3.)-\)',12, inhcrcb-1,total incr me of thc pctitioner was rrs,scs;scd atRs.38,40,4 i.259/ aftcr making c(rrtiril arlditionsI-iken.isc fc [' ]thc asscssmcnt [ycar ]2O2O l2 1 . tr,'t Ltioncr rvasassesscrl t r, thc asscssing officcr, vidc t Irt' [,: ]rdrrr datcd26.O3.2022 passed undcr Section 1a3(3) reircl n ith Scction1lj3C of tht Act. By the aforcsaid assessmcnt [,)rclcr, ]totalincomc of t rc: pctitroncr was asscssed at Ils.I3'/J,4O,3951after makin 3 ccrtain additions4. Aggrir vcd by thc aforcsaid thrce asst:ssn:enr- ordersfor thrce a lscssment .ycars, petitioner prcfr:r rt:d appcalsbeforc thc ['irst ]appcllatc authority i.c., Cc,nr rr ssroncr ofIncome Tar (Appcals)- 1 2, Hyderabad, (bricll1 , 'the CIT(A)'hereinzrfter) ['l'he ]particurlars of thc appcals €r,l its under:- Asst. yearAppcal Nc .20 18, 19CI'I'(A), Ilyd-12l 10599 [/ ]18 192019 20CI'I'(A), ltyd-12 I 1044 7' t9-202020 2 |CI'l'(Al, llyd-12l lOs4 1'2,'l 2 I 4.1 . Pctitioner had lilcd sta_v pctitions bclorc rcspondentNo.l for stay of dcmand till disposal ol the rcspcclivcappcals before thc C]T(A). Llou,cvcr, bl thc ordcr dated12.O5.2022, thc pctil.ion s\\r o ropartl.v allou,cd b"vresporrdcnt No.1 by dirccting thc pct.itioner to pay 2Ooh olthe demand and subjcct to such paymcnt, collcction of thcbalancc dcmand was dirccl.ed to bc staycd. Thereaftc r,pctitioncr had approached rcspondcnt No.2. Howcvcr, ltorelief was granted by rcspondcnt No.2. As a mattcr of fact,by ordcr dated 17.05.2022, rcspondcnt No.2 had dircctedlhe pelitioner to pay thc cntirc tax amount. It wastherealtcr that the writ petition camc to be filcd.5. On 26.05.2022, this Court had passcd thc lollowingordcr:- "Sri Il-Narasimha Sarma, lcarncd Senior Counscl forlncome Tax Department, takes notice on bchalf of therespondents and sccks timc to file countcr. Thc petitioner hercin had filed thc prescnt rvrit petition todeclare that the petitioncr should not be trcatcd as a defaulterfor non-payment of tax of 11s.3,67,20,018/. dctcrmined videassessment order, datcd 26/28.03.2022 for thc Assessmentyears 2018-19 to 2O2O-2021, as arbitrary and illegal, andconsequently, to declare that the pctitioner is entitlcd to stay ofcollection of demand during [pcndenc-\, ]of thc Income [Tax ][Appcal.]The petitioner has sought the aforcsaid rclicf on [varrous]declare that the petitioncr should not be trcatcd as a defaulterfor non-payment of tax of 11s.3,67,20,018/. dctcrmined videassessment order, datcd 26/28.03.2022 for thc Assessmentyears 2018-19 to 2O2O-2021, as arbitrary and illegal, andconsequently, to declare that the pctitioner is entitlcd to stay ofcollection of demand during [pcndenc-\, ]of thc Income [Tax ][Appcal.]The petitioner has sought the aforcsaid rclicf on [varrous]grounds, which requirc cxamination aftcr filing thc counter b-vthc respondents.thc respondents. / / /\ li nlsal ol th| r{'c()r(l \\oUld :rlso r('\c,tl 1ili1l th('l).rlitlof( [lrorlin lla(l liltcl in ][irppcal ][ln<i il ][i:r ]Pr:rc1 [ir1. ][Along]ui lr tlrr [..;ricl ]aPPe:rl, llrc l)(tilr.)n('r h,rrcin hat.l irlso [,i ]c'd stalI).l,i1r.Jr, [r iriclr $as ][rlisrnisst:rl ][r:rrle ][ordcr, rlitr',1 ] [.(15.2 ][l.u ][2]'l irr'r'L' r; , ::lriill,'fiir lo lllc sai(l ()r(lcr. I ,rrevcr, in ricrr ol th( al)ov. said [(li:rculsir ]r rnrrttclr({lLlirls )iirmir'ratior ['l ]lrcrclorc. tlrt:tc sl-urll bc Jtarr )l r [,licr ]ti,rnol lax [(l ,lln(l ]ol l?s..i,{r7,llO.0l8,t for thc Alrsc s;s r !rl Y iars2()1,B ;.1() ') to 2O2()'2O2.1 irrle Assessmcnt [()r ]1'.r, d.rt,rd,).61'),8.o. .ro2:2 J)irsscd lrr' rcsponclcnt No. I on corcl tcr of tlrcpctilionc 1ra-,,'irrg i5''1, ol thc anrount dcmandc.i \r'itl,irl r pe.i(xlol \\'() l2 'rorLhs in ttlrcc (:t) [('(lual ]monthh ins.t.riln crts. ll tllcp(lrtionc Ltrls to (onrl)l\'!\,iti-r the said ordcr, lib('rl\,i: 1ri ntt i Loth( rc:rtx r1(ilrts to proct'ccl uillr thc mattcr, in.]cr:rrdr cc [\',itlr]la,r I sl orr 30.06.2022." 5. 1. Irrom thc abovc, it is sccn that ttris [tllorrrt ]haddircctcd tht petitioner Lo pay 7 5o/o of thc clcrt i,tno withintrvo monthr in thrcc cquatcd monthly instalrnerrts andsubjC( t to s rch paymcnt, the dcmand was stav,r,-1.6. In l.A No.2 of 2022, petitioner has srtac,l that on09.06.2022 it had paid Rs.91,80,005/-, on [()li ]07.2022 iLhad pzrid Rs 91,80,005/ and lastly on 25.01 t 022 [jt ]hadpaid sirnilar amount of Rs.91,80,0O5/-. In all, it- hrrs paidRs.2,75,40,( 15/- which is l5ol, of the dernand. Ttrus thepctitioncr hi s complicd with thc ordcr of this tlt.,ur'- dated26.O5."tO?.2 \ 7. Having rcgard to thc above, wc dircct that till disposalof thc thrcc appcals ol thc pctitioncr by thc CIT(A) for thcassessmcnt years 20 18 1,9, 2019-2O and 2O2O 2 I , furthcrdemand raiscd on thc basis of thc ordcrs of asscssmcntshall rcmain st.a5zcd. Wc hopc and trust. CIT(A) will makcnecessary cndcavour to hcar and dccide thc appealscxpcditiously. U. Thc writ pctition is accordingly disposed of.Miscellancous applications pending, if any, shallstand closed. Howcvcr, thcre shall be no ordcr as to costs. sD/' P SsBYiilfB#t,BFRRX /,//TRUE coPY/' oFFlcER '=;t'-* '"'iii"ilro,!l?iHHil'Fi"ji&qF"+*J+11''c'"ru1-,lT::::';:;-"2. The [PriniiPal ][Commt]r a x ro [p ] [C,]i ff [iHj ][I'ft'ftft ][ffiff ][t*am: ][g:': ][3l ][to, ][n"" ][" ]alg3t 5. two [CD CoPies']6. One [SPare t'oPY]MPGJPv \", H}GH COURT D,A"[iD:0510912022 -.:a==:'':=?nc-YA\,Ic,\,,ou).\ri!-i; eql-'Lss,ORDERWP.llc .:113')69 ot 2022 DISPOSING OF THE \ilIRI']- PETITIONvllt,-t.touT cosTs I