Wtax/1040/2023 Of Hindu Degree College v. Principal Chief Commissioner Of Income Tax And Another

Court No. - 46 Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 1040 of 2023 Petitioner :- Hindu Degree CollegeRespondent :- Principal Chief Commissioner Of Income Tax And AnotherCounsel for Petitioner :- Ashish BansalCounsel for Respondent :- Gaurav Mahajan Hon'ble Ashwani Kumar Mishra,J.Hon'ble Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi,J. This petition is directed against an order dated 13.04.2023, passedby the Assessing Authority under clause (d) of Section 148A of theIncome Tax Act primarily on the ground that pursuant to noticeissued under Section 148A(b) of the Act, a reply has beensubmitted by the petitioner on 06.04.2023 but the same has notbeen considered. Our attention has been invited to para 5 of the order impugnedwhich records that in response to the show cause notice issuedunder Section 148A(b) of the Act, no reply has been submitted.With reference to averments made in the writ petition, it is,however, specifically urged that in fact a reply was submittedwhich has not been adverted to. Sri Ashish Bansal, learned counsel for respondents has obtainedinstructions from the respondents wherein the factum ofsubmission of reply is not disputed. What is stated in theinstructions is that the assessee has not stated anything about theproceedings of assessment year in question. Once the authorities acknowledge that petitioner's reply wasreceived, the concerned officer ought to have applied his mind tothe contents of the reply and the same ought to have been dealtwith, while passing the order itself. The factual premise that in factno reply has been submitted since is shown to be incorrect, theorder passed under Section 148A(d) of the Act and theconsequential order of the authority initiating proceedings underSection 148 of the Act cannot be sustained. Consequently, theorder impugned dated 13.04.2023 is set aside. The AssessingAuthority shall be at liberty to pass a fresh reasoned order afterconsidering the reply of the petitioner to the show cause notice. With the above discussion and observation, this petition isdisposed of, accordingly. Order Date :- 22.9.2023/RA