Indu Goenka vs Assessment Unit
2023 Latest Caselaw 1752 Cal

Item no. 05


               IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
                         CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
                                APPELLATE SIDE

Present:
The Hon'ble Justice T.S. Sivagnanam
              And
The Hon'ble Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya


                               MAT 306 of 2023
                                     +
                             IA NO.CAN 1 OF 2023


                            INDU GOENKA
                                vs.
       ASSESSMENT UNIT, INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT & Ors.

Appearance:
For the Appellant        :    Mr. Abhratosh Mazumdar, Sr. Adv.
                              Mr. Avra Mazumdar
                              Mr. Ramesh Patodiya
                              Ms. Megha Agarwal.

For the Respondents      :    Mr. Smarajit Roychowdhury

Heard on                 : 16.03.2023

Judgment on              : 16.03.2023


T.S. Sivagnanam J.:

1. This intra-Court appeal is directed against the order dated

30th January, 2023 passed in W.P.A. 1306 of 2023. In the said writ

petition the appellant had challenged the assessment order dated 20 th

December, 2022 under Section 143(3) read with Section 144B of the

Income Tax Act, 1961 (for brevity the "Act") on the ground that it is in

total violation of the principles of natural justice and it has ignored all

the formalities to be observed as enumerated under the Standard

Operating Procedure (SOP) for faceless assessment orders. The learned

Single Bench had dismissed the writ petition on the ground that the

reasoning given by the assessing officer cannot be examined in a writ

proceeding as the Court cannot act as an appellate authority.

Questioning the correctness of the order, the appellant is before this

Court by way of this intra-Court appeal.

2. We have heard Mr. Abhratosh Majumdar, learned senior

counsel for the appellant and Mr. Smarajit Roy Chowhdhury, learned

senior standing counsel for the respondents.

3. At the first blush it may appear that the challenge is to the

assessment order passed by the authority on the merits of the case.

However, on a careful consideration of the entire facts and

circumstances of the case, it is clear that the appellant has not

questioned the merits of the assessment but the decision making

process. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under the Faceless

Assessment framed under Section 144B of the Act had been issued by

the National Faceless Assessment Centre, Delhi and communicated to

all the Principal Chief Commissioners, Income Tax under the cover of a

letter dated 3rd August, 2022. The procedure enumerates as to how the

assessment has to be made and in paragraph N.1.3 it has been stated

that the authority should ensure adherence to the principles of natural

justice and reasonable opportunity to the assessee, timelines to be given

for obtaining response to the show cause notice which have also been

stipulated. Further, the SOP also gives the format of final assessment

order in AU-9 which sets out the various heads under which the

assessment order has to be passed with due discussion.

4. On a cursory perusal of the assessment order dated 20 th

December, 2022, which is impugned in the writ petition, one gets an

impression that it is in compliance with the SOP as it contains requisite

sub-headings but however, on a closure reading of the assessment order

it is found that the assessing officer has acted in a most perverse

manner in passing the assessment order. We say so because the first

21 pages of the assessment order is a verbatim extract of the show

cause notice. In page nos.22 and 23 in two paragraphs the reply given

by the assessee has been summarized. From page nos.23 to 36 of the

assessment order it is once again extract of the show cause and

ultimately at page nos.37 and 38 the total income has been determined

and the assessment is completed.

5. The impugned assessment order is a classical example as to how

an assessment should not be made. The assessing officer has reduced

the procedure to an empty formality, which has to be deprecated. This

leaves us with no other option except to quash the assessment order. In

the result, the appeal as well as the writ petition are allowed and the

assessment order dated 20th December, 2022 is quashed. Consequently,

I.A. No. CAN 1 of 2023 is disposed of.

06. There shall, however, be no order as to costs.

07. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for,

be furnished to the parties expeditiously upon compliance of all legal

formalities.

(T. S. Sivagnanam, J.)

I agree.

(Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.)

RP/Pallab (AR. CT.)