Ats Promoters & Builders Pvt. Ltd vs Chief Commissioner Of Income Tax ...
2008 Latest Caselaw 2171 Del

           THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

%                               Judgment delivered on: 05.12.2008

+             WP(C) 8339/2008

ANIL KUMAR SAHA                                       ... Petitioner

                                - versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME
TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR.                        ... Respondents

AND WP(C) 8340/2008

ASHWANI TALWAR ... Petitioner

- versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR. ... Respondents

AND WP(C) 8341/2008

ATS CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE PVT. LTD ... Petitioner

- versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR. ... Respondents

AND WP(C) 8342/2008

ATS PROMOTERS & BUILDERS PVT. LTD ... Petitioner

- versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR. ... Respondents

AND WP(C) 8343/2008

ATS INFRASTRUCTURE LTD ... Petitioner

- versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR. ... Respondents

AND WP(C) 8344/2008

ALSTONIA TOWNSHIP PVT. LTD ... Petitioner

- versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME
TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR.                               ... Respondents

                                     AND
WP(C) 8345/2008

GEETAMBAR ANAND                                              ... Petitioner

                                  - versus -

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME
TAX DELHI(1), NEW DELHI & ANR.                               ... Respondents

Advocates who appeared in this case:

For the Petitioner : Mr Piyush Kaushik For the Respondent : Ms Prem Lata Bansal with Mr M. P. Gupta and Mr Sanjeev Rajpal

CORAM:-

HON'BLE MR JUSTICE BADAR DURREZ AHMED HON'BLE MR JUSTICE RAJIV SHAKDHER

1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? Yes

2. To be referred to the Reporter or not ? Yes

3. Whether the judgment should be reported in Digest ? Yes

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J (ORAL)

1. In this batch of writ petitions the order dated 07.10.2008

passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi-I, New Delhi under

Section 127(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is under challenge. By

virtue of the said order the Commissioner of Income Tax has

transferred the cases of the petitioners to the Assessing Officer at

Meerut, namely, ACIT, Central Circle, Meerut. The impugned order,

in its entirety, reads as under:-

"OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX DELHI-I, NEW DELHI

F. No.: CIT-I/ITO Hq-I/Centralisation/08-09 07.10.2008

ORDER U/S 127(2) OF THE I.T. ACT, 1961

In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (2) of Section 127 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), Sec. 11 of the W. T. Act, 1957, Sec. 7 of the G. T. Act, 1958 and other powers enabling me in this behalf, I, Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi-I, New Delhi hereby transfer the case, particulars of which are mentioned hereunder in Col. 2, from Assessing Officer mentioned in Col. 3 therein, to the Assessing Officer mentioned in Col. 4. after considering the objections filed by the assessee in response to show cause notice u/s 127.

S.No.                                       From              To
 1       M/s Alstonia Township(P) Ltd   ITO Ward 1(3)    ACIT Central
         PAN - AAECA 4455A              New Delhi        Circle, Meerut
 2       Sh. Ashwani Talwar             DCIT, Cir.2(1)   ACIT Central
         PAN - AAAPT 0920E              New Delhi        Circle, Meerut
 3       Sh. Anil Kumar Saha            DCIT, Cir.2(1)   ACIT Central
         PAN - AMYPS 1829D              New Delhi        Circle, Meerut
 4       Sh. Geetamber Anand            DCIT, Cir.2(1)   ACIT Central
         PAN - ACHPA 0868 K             New Delhi        Circle, Meerut
 5       M/s ATS Infrastructure Ltd.    DCIT, Cir.2(1)   ACIT Central


          PAN- AADCA 0809B                New Delhi     Circle, Meerut
 6       M/s ATS Promoters and           ITO Ward 2(2) ACIT Central
         Builders Pvt. Ltd,              New Delhi     Circle, Meerut
         PAN-AABCA 4298C
 7       M/s ATS Construction and        ITO Ward 2(2) ACIT Central
         Maintenance Pvt. Ltd            New Delhi     Circle, Meerut
         PAN - AACCS0562 Q

This transfer is effected for administrative convenience and coordinated investigation.

This issues with the concurrence of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Central), Kanpur vide his letter no. CIT (C)/ KNP 58-02-08/08-09/620 dated 03.06.08.

The order shall come into force from 13th Oct., 2008.

sd/-

(VIJAY SHARMA) Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi-I, New Delhi."

2. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that on

30.09.2008 the Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi had issued a letter

with regard to the proposal for transferring the jurisdiction over the

petitioners' cases to Meerut from Delhi. On 06.10.2008 the petitioners

submitted detailed representations before the said Commissioner of

Income Tax containing several objections to the proposal for

transferring their cases to Meerut. On 07.10.2008 the petitioners also

submitted a detailed representation before the Chief Commissioner of

Income Tax (respondent No.1). The said representation also contained

several objections to the proposals for transfer of cases to Meerut. The

objections taken by the petitioners were that the head office and the

registered office of the company were situated in Delhi at 711/92 -

Deepali, Nehru Place, New Delhi and the directors' residences were

either in Delhi or Noida only. The petitioners also took the objection

that the main company being ATS Promoters and Builders Private

Limited and other group entities and its directors were being assessed

in Delhi since the very incorporation of the company and other entities.

It was also contended that the business activities of the petitioners were

located at Noida which is close to Delhi and that there was no activity

of the petitioners in Meerut. It was, therefore, contended that it would

be very difficult for the assessee to attend the assessment proceedings

on a day to day basis at Meerut. They had no objection to the

centralization of all the assessment proceedings at one place but,

according to the petitioners, that could easily be done at Delhi which

would be convenient for all parties. It is apparent that the impugned

order passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi -I, does not

deal with the objections and merely states that "after considering the

objections filed by the assessee in response to the show cause notice

under Section 127" the cases were being transferred to the Assessing

Officer at Meerut. The order also only states that the transfer was

effected for administrative convenience and coordinated investigation.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioners has placed before us a

decision of this Court in the case of Nitin Developers and Const v.

CIT: 284 ITR 605 wherein it has been observed that the order of

transfer under Section 127(2) ought to disclose proper application of

mind to the objections which the assessee may have raised. The Court

observed that this principle is fairly well-settled. In the present case,

we find that the order does not disclose proper application of mind to

the objections and obviously the order does not indicate as to how the

objections raised by the petitioners have been met.

4. In these circumstances, we set aside the impugned order. It

would be open to the Commissioner of Income Tax (Delhi)-I, New

Delhi to pass another order under Section 127(2) after granting a

further opportunity of hearing to the petitioners. We make it clear that

the order that would be passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax

ought to deal with the objections, if any, raised by the petitioners.

These writ petitions stand disposed of accordingly.

Dasti under the signature of the Court Master.

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J

RAJIV SHAKDHER, J December 05, 2008 SR