Delhi HC rejects plea of firm linked to Vadra against IT's reassessment notice

Robert VadraThe Delhi High Court has rejected the plea of a Delhibased hospitality firm linked to Robert Vadra challenging an income tax IT department notice to it for reassessment of its profits from land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan for the years 201011 The IT department in a tax evasion report tabled before the high court had said that it had reasons to believe that over Rs 35 crore earned by the firm in 201011 had escaped from assessmentA bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar taking note of the tax evasion report said After going through the reasons we are satisfied that the reasons to believe show and establish a live link and connect with the inference drawn that income had escaped assessment which is required for issuance of noticeThe court also directed the firm Sky Light Hospitality LLP to join proceedings before the assessing officer on February 19 The firm in its plea challenging the IT departments notice had contended that the reasons to believe were mere reasons to suspect and do not establish that income had escaped assessment Disagreeing with the firms contention the bench said that absolute certainty is not required at the time of issue of notice and at the same time reasons to believe must not be based on mere suspicion gossip or rumourThe said test and criteria we have no hesitation in holding is satisfied in the present case There is evidence and material on record to justify issue of notice it said and added that as long as there was a honest and reasonable opinion formed by the assessing officer and the reasons to believe are not mere reasons to suspect the courts should not interject to stop the adjudication process and scrutiny on meritsThe bench also rejected the firms plea that the notice was sent by the IT department to the wrong entity Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd instead of Sky Light Hospitality LLP saying there was no doubt and debate that the notice was meant for the petitioner and no one else Legal error and mistake was made in addressing the notice Noticeably the appellant Sky Light having received the said notice had filed without prejudice replyletter dated April 11 2017 They had objected to the notice being issued in the name of the company which had ceased to existHowever the reading of the said letter indicates they had understood and were aware that the notice was for them It was replied and dealt with by them The fact that notice was addressed to Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd a company which had been dissolved was an error and technical lapse on the part of the respondent IT Department No prejudice was caused the court said in its order The bench said that human errors and mistakes cannot and should not nullify proceedings which are otherwise valid In view of the aforesaid discussion we do not find any merit in the present writ petitionWe clarify that we have not expressed any opinion on merits of the case We also deem it proper and appropriate to record that the petitioner had raised contention on merits which we have no doubt would be examined in depth and detail by the assessing officer We would expect that the assessing officer would deal with all issues independently and fairly without being influenced by this order and challenge made by the petitioner to the notice the court said and directed the firm to appear before the assessing officer on February 19 when the date of hearing will be fixedCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeverTrending Video