Delhi HC Sets Aside Income Tax Action Against Rajat Sharma-Owned India TV’s Parent Company Over Alleged Unaccounted Foreign Remittances
The Delhi Excessive Court docket on Wednesday put aside the reassessment motion initiated towards journalist Rajat Sharma’s firm, M/S Unbiased Information Service Pvt. Ltd., which owns and runs the India TV channel, over alleged international remittances.
The discover was issued following a survey performed by the Revenue Tax Division on the J&Ok Financial institution again in 2019, revealing that the corporate had made international remittances amounting to ₹6,50,84,454/- throughout AY 2017-18, which didn’t tally with the quantities mirrored in its financial institution assertion.
A division bench of Justices Vibhu Bakhru and Tejas Karia, nevertheless, famous that “there’s a query as to the credibility of the data” set out within the reassessment discover, because the Financial institution had issued a affirmation indicating that the data concerning the remittances alleged within the discover didn’t pertain to the petitioner-company.
“We make clear that within the occasion that the AO has any credible info which means that the petitioner’s revenue has escaped evaluation for the related evaluation 12 months, the AO will not be precluded from issuing a recent discover albeit in accordance with legislation,” the Court docket added.
The corporate had declared an revenue of ₹61,10,86,200/- for AY 2017-18. The reassessment motion was initiated vide discover beneath Part 148A(b) issued on March 26 final 12 months, suggesting that the Petitioner’s revenue amounting to ₹6,50,84,454/- had escaped evaluation.
The corporate disputed the quantum of alleged remittances and produced a affirmation from the Financial institution.
However this, the AO handed the impugned order beneath Part 148A(d) holding that inward and outward international remittance transactions of the Petitioner amounting to ₹11,37,67,029/- stay unexplained.
The Excessive Court docket famous that the SCN didn’t include any such allegation and thus, the impugned order had travelled past the scope of the discover beneath Part 148A(b) of the Act, which is impermissible.
In view of the above, the Court docket put aside the impugned order.
Look: Mr M.P. Rastogi with Mr Ram Naresh and Mr Shivam Malik, Advocates for Petitioner; Mr Gaurav Gupta, SSC with Mr Shivendra Singh and Mr Yojit Pareek, JSCs for Respondents
Case title: M/S Unbiased Information Service Pvt. Ltd. v. The Assessing Officer, Circle 10(1) & Anr.
Case no.: W.P.(C) 11601/2024
