Wp(C)/7135/2024 Of Suresh Puthan Veettil v. Income Tax Officer

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAMPRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SINGHFRIDAY, THE 23 DAY OF FEBRUARY 2024 / 4TH PHALGUNA, 1945WP(C) NO. 7135 OF 2024 PETITIONER/S: SURESH PUTHAN VEETTIL,AGED 63 YEARSPARTHASARATHY AMBADY LUXURY VILLAS., CHIRAKKAL- PO, KANNUR, PIN - 670011 BY ADVS.K.N.SREEKUMARANP.J.ANILKUMAR (A-1768)N.SANTHOSHKUMAR RESPONDENT/S: 1INCOME TAX OFFICER,WARD-I , AAYKAR BHAVAN , MELE CHOVVA, KANNOTHUMCHAL., KANNUR, PIN - 670006WARD-I , AAYKAR BHAVAN , MELE CHOVVA, KANNOTHUMCHAL., KANNUR, PIN - 670006 2ADDITIONAL/JOINT/DEPUTY/ASSISTANTCOMMISSIONER OF INCOMETAX/INCOME TAX OFFICER,ASSESSMENT UNIT, INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL FACELESS ASSESSMENT CENTRE., NEW DELHI, PIN - 100001TAX/INCOME TAX OFFICER,ASSESSMENT UNIT, INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL FACELESS ASSESSMENT CENTRE., NEW DELHI, PIN - 1000013ADDITIONAL/JOINT/DEPUTY/ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX/INCOME TAX OFFICER,NATIONAL FACELESS ASSESSMENT CENTRE , INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT, NEW DELHI, PIN - 100001BY ADVS.CHRISTOPHER ABRAHAM, INCOME TAX DEPARTMENTP.R.AJITH KUMARINCOME TAX/INCOME TAX OFFICER,NATIONAL FACELESS ASSESSMENT CENTRE , INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT, NEW DELHI, PIN - 100001BY ADVS.CHRISTOPHER ABRAHAM, INCOME TAX DEPARTMENTP.R.AJITH KUMAR OTHER PRESENT: CHRISTOPHER ABRAHAM-SC THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON23.02.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: JUDGMENT Dated this the 23[rd] day of February, 2024 The petitioner is an assessee under the provisions ofthe Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as I.TAct, 1961) is engaged in the activities of commissionagency and broker for real estate. The petitioner hadcarried out financial transactions of huge amount in theassessment year 2018-19. However, the petitioner didnot file return of his income for the assessment year2018-19. As per the information available in the InsightPortal and looking at the financial transaction of hugeproportions, the petitioner’s case was re-opened underSection 147 of the I.T Act,1961. A notice under Section148 was issued to the petitioner. However, the petitionerdid not file any reply to the said notice. Thereafter, anorder 148 A(d) was passed recording the reasons for re-opening the assessment of the petitioner. The assessmentorder came to be completed in Ext.P9 order dated06.02.2024 under Section 147 read with Section 144 and144B or the I.T Act. 3 2.The petitioner has approached this Court impugning the said assessment order. The ground onwhich the petitioner has filed this writ petition is that thepetitioner was not afforded an opportunity of hearingbefore finalization of the assessment order. Theassessment order would disclose that the petitioner didnot file reply to the notice under Sections 148 and 142(1)of the I.T Act, despite those notices having beenserved. The petitioner was granted several opportunitiesto explain the source of cash deposits with respectiveledgers, confirmations and bank contra entries, source oftime deposit with respective ledgers, confirmations, andbank contra entries etc., The petitioner did not explainand justified the source of cash deposit of huge sum ofRs.1,91,64,111/- and no return of income was filed asmentioned above. 3.However, the petitioner filed submissions inrespect of some transactions, these submissions havebeen taken note of in the impugned assessment order.The petitioner was granted an opportunity of hearing as WPC No 7135 of 2024 per the Ext.P7 order. However the petitioner did not optfor personal hearing as per the procedure prescribedunder Section 144B. 3.However, the petitioner filed submissions inrespect of some transactions, these submissions havebeen taken note of in the impugned assessment order.The petitioner was granted an opportunity of hearing as WPC No 7135 of 2024 per the Ext.P7 order. However the petitioner did not optfor personal hearing as per the procedure prescribedunder Section 144B. Admitted facts are that the petitioner did not respondto any of the notices except for filing the reply and didnot opt for the personal hearing as provided underSection 144 B. Subsequent request for personal hearingis of no relevance, if at the time of reply, the petitionerdoes not opt for personal hearing. In view thereof, I findno substance in the present writ petition. Therefore, thewrit petition is hereby dismissed. Sd/- DINESH KUMAR SINGH JUDGE AP APPENDIX OF WP(C) 7135/2024 PETITIONER EXHIBITS Exhibit-P1TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE U/S 148 DATED04..05..2022BEARINGDIN:ITBA/AST/S/148/1/2022-23/1042932673(1)ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENTExhibit-P 2TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 26..05..2023WITHDIN:ITBA/AST/F/142(1)2023-24/1053211891(1) ISSUED BY THE 2NDRESPONDENT .Exhibit-P 3TRUE COPY OF THE RESPONSE ALONG WITHSUPPORTING ANNEXURE FILED BY THE PETITIONERDATED 04..08..2023 VIDE E-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTNUMBER:168760631070823 AGAINST EXT-P2 .Exhibit-P 4TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 05..10..2023VIDEDIN:ITBA/AST/F/142(1)2023-24/1056811139(1) ISSUED BY THE 2NDRESPONDENT.Exhibit-P 5TRUE COPY OF THE RESPONSE ALONG WITHRELEVANT ANNEXURE FILED BY THE PETITIONERDATED 12..10..2023 VIDE E-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTNUMBER: 40325728121023 AGAINST EXT-P4 .Exhibit-P 6TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 06..12..2023WITHDIN:ITBA/AST/F/147(SCN)/2023-24/1058518851(1)Exhibit -P7TRUE COPY OF THE REPLY DATED 09..12..2023FILED AGAINST EXT-P6 NOTICE THROUGH ONLINEPORTAL VIDE E-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT NUMBER-551493391131223ALONGWITHRELEVANTANNEXURE .Exhibit-P 8TRUE COPY OF THE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS FILEDON 09..12..2023 IN SUPPORT OF EXT-P7THROUGHONLINEPORTALVIDEE-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTNUMBER-551569581131223ALONG WITH RELEVANT ANNEXURE .Exhibit-P 9TRUE COPY OF THE ASSESSMENT ORDER ALONGWITH COMPUTATION STATEMENT BEARING DIN:ITBA/AST/S/147/2023-24/1060546091(1)&ITBA/AST/S/183/2023-24/1060546178(1) DATED06..02..2024 FOR THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2018-19 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.Exhibit -P10TRUE COPY OF THE STANDARD OPERATINGPROCEDURE(SOP) FOR ASSESSMENT UNIT(AU)UNDER THE FACELESS ASSESSMENT PROVISIONS OFSECTION144B OF THE INCOME TAX ACT DATED WPC No 7135 of 2024 03..08..2022 ISSUED BY CBDT Exhibit-P 11TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN GENESISINSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE PRIVATELIMITED VS INCOME TAX OFFICER, W.P.(C)21424/2023 DATED 24..11..2023