Wtax/290/2019 Of Vandana Bansal And 10 Others v. The Asstt. Commissioner Of Income Tax And 2 Others

Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 290 of 2019 Petitioner :- Vandana Bansal And 10 OthersRespondent :- The Asstt. Commissioner Of Income Tax And 2 OthersCounsel for Petitioner :- Tarun AgrawalCounsel for Respondent :- S.S.C. Hon'ble Pradeep Kumar Singh Baghel,J.Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia,J. Learned counsel for the petitioners seeks leave of the Court toimplead Income Tax Appellate Tribunal as one of therespondent. Leave is granted. Necessary correction, in the memo of parties, be carried outduring the course of the day. The petitioners have preferred this writ petition for issuance ofa writ of certiorari to quash the order dated 06.02.2019 passedby the respondent no. 1 and garnishee notice dated 27.02.2019issued by the same respondent-Assistant Commissioner ofIncome Tax Central Circle, Allahabad, whereby he has issued anotice under Section 226 Sub Section 3 of the Income Tax Act,1961 for the attachment of the petitioners' account in the PunjabNational Bank. Brief facts are these: Pursuant to search and seizure conducted on the premises of thepetitioners the assessing authority initiated proceedings underSection 153A/153C against the petitioners for differentassessment year. The petitioners moved an application underSection 245C for settlement of the cases. It is stated thatpetitioners deposited Rs. 3,66,48,565/- against their tax liability.The Income Tax Settlement Commission passed an order byinvoking clause (iiia) of Sub Section (1) of Section 245HA ofthe Income Tax Act. It is averred that Income Tax SettlementCommission has passed the order without providing terms andconditions of settlement. In pursuance thereof the assessingauthority again seized of the matter. It is urged by Sri Ravi Kant, learned Senior Advocate that inview of the abatement, now the time limit in terms of theprovision of Sub Section (2) of Section 245HA read with Section 153B expired in all cases of the petitioner. Theproceeding for the assessment has already become barred. It is also brought to our notice that the Supreme Court in itsorder dated 16.04.2018 has noticed the fact that the petitionerhas paid 3.94 crores and earlier also he has deposited 3.66crores rupees. The Court has also noticed the financial crunchwhich the petitioners are facing. Accordingly, the Court hasdirected that no further payment shall be made by thepetitioners till June, 2018 and a direction was issued to theCommissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) to decide the appeal. We have heard Sri Ravi Kant, learned Senior Advocate assistedby Sri Tarun Agrawal, learned counsel for the petitioners, SriPravin Kumar, learned counsel for respondent nos. 1 and 2 andnewly added respondent no. 4, and Sri Sanjay Kumar Singh,learned counsel for the respondent no. 3. With the consent of the parties, the writ petition is taken on theboard and is finally disposed of in terms of the rule of theCourt. In view of the above, we direct the Appellate Authority todecide the appeal expeditiously, preferably within three monthsfrom the date of communication of the order. It is made clear that we have not expressed our view on themerits of the case. The Appellate Authority will decide theappeal in accordance with law. The learned counsel for the petitioner assured the Court that nounnecessary adjournment will be sought on behalf ofpetitioners. It is contended on behalf of petitioners that the petitioners havealready deposited about 7 crores, which has been taken note bythe Supreme Court in its interim order. In view of the above, no coercive action shall be taken againstthe petitioners till the appeal is decided. Order Date :- 14.3.2019 SR