✦ High Court of India · 01 May 2025

PRIIMARY AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE C-RE-qlr soclETY LIMITED v. l.ThelncomeTaxOfficerWardl'.SangarcddvlncomeTaxOffice'

Case Details High Court of India · 01 May 2025
Court
High Court of India
Decided
01 May 2025
Length
4,407 words

Petition rr dr:r Section 151 cpc praying that in the circJms:ances stated in the affidavit firr"c rr :;upport of the petition, the High court may be preased to suspend the orrjr:- Jnder section 147 r.w.s 144 Dale ,of 18-03_2024, DIN |rBA/AST/S/147r2023'24119u2884061(1) for the Assessm,:nt year 2018-19 determining th€ tlrit ncome of Rs. 1,g0,20,6g5/- and Demarrd nr:tice u/s .156 of the lncome Tax ,ct 1961, vide DIN and Notice No ITBA/.A{:,T/S/15 6t2O23_ 2411062884091 (1) ct 1B-03-2o24 for the assessment year 2.019-20 pending disposal of the abo ve /yrit petition Counsel for the pet,tioner: SRl. THANNERU CHAITANYA KUMAR Counsel for the ResF,ondents: Ms. J. SUNITHA (JUNIOR SC FOR TNCOME TAX) The Court made, thr-. iollowing: ORDER TTIE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P'SAM KOSHY AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NARSING RAO NANDIKONDA WRIT PETITION No .31430 of2024 SBDEB' @er Ilon'ble Sri 'JusLice P.Sam Koshy) Heard Mr. T.Chaitanya Kumar' leamed counsel for the petitioner and Ms.J.Sunitha, leamed Junior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Depadment for the respondents Perused the record

2. This is a writ petition where the proceedings are either challenged to the notices which wele issued under Section 148,4. an<I 148 of the Income.]'ax Act, 1961 (for short.the Act,) orthe assessmcnt orders those have been passed under Section 147 of the Act which have been assailed'

3. This writ petition is being taken up today only on one of the grounds, that the notices issued under Section 148,{ of the Act and the subsequent lnitiation of proceedings under Section 148 of the Act by the jurisdictional Assessing Ofhcer' whereas in terms of the amendment that was brought to the Income Tax Act by way of Finance Act, 2021 w e'f', 01'04'2021 onwards' proceedings 2 unde . iicr:ior) 14gA of the Act as also under Seclion l4g of the Act oLl ,,11 'o irave also heen issued and f roct,cc[..] in a hcelcss mann 3r

4. 'l'h: :ontention of the petitioner. is procee cl nrl: being in violation of the Finance Act impug.rcd ncticcs under Section l4gA and Secriou not bei15 14ll of the Act :rs tred in a faceless manner, have alrcaclt. t,ee.n dealt with that tJt r issue of l0 ll i.e., the allou,,gd snd K{NI,i:\NALA and dec cr:rl by, this Court in the case of RAVINIDRI. REDDY vs. INCOME_TAX OI.FICtrR decided on 14.0,). )()23 rvhereby a batch of writ petitions ."vcnr thc proceedinrs initiated under Section l4gA as also tu.rcle . 148 of tl.Lc .t,:, were held to be bad with consequential rc.lje l.s on the ground of t h,:lnq in violation of the provisions of Sec ion l5lA of the Act r,rad ,ritlr Notification Lg/2l22dated 29.03.20.2. . .he judgment p r:rr;rril b1, this Court has also bcen subsequcn:lv irllowed in a large nu l ler of rvr.it petitions which were allori.erl orr siurilar Section tenns. '[(2023) l -5rj 1a <nrrr,n.co,1 178 (Telangana)l ) 3

5. Down the line, we find that the same issue has also been decided against the ltevenue by various High Courts i'e'' by the Bombay I{igh Court in the case of HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD., VS' ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER oFINCoMETAx&OTHERS?,GauhatiHighCourtinthecase of RAM NARAYAN SAH vs' UNION OF INDIA3' Punjab and Haryarra High Court in the case of JATINDER SINGH BANGU vs. UNION OF INDIA4, and Telangana High Court in the case of SRI VENKATARAMANA REDDY PATLOOLA VS. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX5 where the issue was in respect of intemational taxation' Bombay High Court in the case of ABHIN ANILKUMAR SHAII vs' INCOME TAX OFFICER' INTERNATIONAL TAXATION6 which is again on international Exation and central circle' High Court of Himachal Pradesh in the case of GOVIND SINGH vs' INCOME TAX OFFICERT' Gujarat High Courl in the case of MANSUKHBHAI 'lzoz+1464 ITR 430 (Bom) 'i1toz$ 156 taxmann.com 478 (Gauhati)l ^l(2024)165 taxmann.com 115 (Punjab & Ilaryana)l 'i).oro|' ,0, taxmann.com 411 (Telangana)l :1,rozo t I66 taxrnann.com 679 (Bombay)l - \zoz+'t 165 taxmann com Ill (tlimachal Pradcsh)l 4 DAHId\EIIAI RADADIYA vs. INCOME Tu\X OFFICER, WAI{IN :},:tX5)8, Jharkand High Court in rh-. case r,f.SHyAM SUNI)Aiil SAW vs. UNION OF lNDIAe, Rajastharr rtigh Courr in the ciLs.r rl SHARDA DEVI CHHAJER vs. IN(.(],ME TAX OFFI(:)IDFl ,& ANOTHER and batch of rvrir petiriorrsr0 which stood rjec,J:l on 19.03.2024. Similar views hai,e ralso ;een taken by thc I).,sion Bench of Calcutta I{igh Cor_rt ir rhe case of GIRI)IL\fii GOPAL DALMIA vs. UNION OF INI)t,\ & ORS (M.A.'f 1 6)( )t- )023),decided on 25.09.2024. 6. Ev.rn ttcugh the same issue having been decideci f v a large nurnber ol'l ljpli Courls, we are still confi.onted u,ith lu.gc filing of identical tn tr ()rs on daily basis ranging betwc.11 -. rg l0 writ lrrrt upon the instructions being soLrgl t Ii onr the Depaftntcr-r,. the_r, have been taking a solitary lSround hat the decision o1'rhe Bornbay High Courr in the casr: o1 lleuowore Technolo;7i,::; Ltd., (2 supra) as also the otre utic.lr .tr s been decided by tjr i:r Clourt in the case of Kanakola Rrtvittdro Redcllt petrtions. -l *202,1 SCt ( ) rr i r-. ( iui l0l2 '^2025 S( ( o rr i r.. .thar 287 ''[2023: R.t-Jl r:] qti4_DBl ..1-: 5 (1 supra) has been subjected to challenge in a Special Leave Petition i.e., SLP No.3574 of 2024 before the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the Hon'ble Supreme Court is seized of the matter' In addition, there are about 1200 SLPs atso fiied arising out ofthe same issue being decided by various [{igh Coutts' T",_t g-Y-:1b:ing put to the learned counse-l f911h9r,!r3g..B'=*=. 7 they have categorically accepted the fact that lhere is no interim ordel granted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in any of these malters pending betbre it' Meanwhile' fresh writ petitions of identical nature are being piled up before this Bench on daily basis and the pendency is getting increased on matter which otherwise lrasalreadybeendealtanddecidedbythisveryHighCourtitself.

8. On the one hand, even though th" o"let of this Court that was passed as early as on 14 09'2023 and more 1 6 months have lapsed, till date, we do not find any remedial steps having been taken by the Income Tax Deparlment to take appropriate steps to either hold back issuance of notice under Section l48A and under Section 148 of the Act by the jurisdictional Assessing Ofhcer' rather the authorities concerned in the teeth of series of decisions 6 by iLll tlc nrajor High Courls in India afe crnt r; ruously still rnitiati.rg ;roceedings under Section 14gA of tlre l,ct and also initiatinl. oroceedings under Section l4E ol. rirc Act in conlrirve.tt;on to the amendrnents brought into the , ncoire .l_ax pursuirnt tc :hc Finance Act,2020 as also the Fi tanr e ,\ :t 202 I . 9' Act IJpc'tL a query being put as to why can't rhis rvrit petition be dispos,:c .: I ;n the teeth of the decision renderrd bv rhrs Couft in the casc ol (anokola Rovindra Retldy (l supra r. ]eiturc( I Standing Clounse I ii,.. I te Incorne Tax Department contends thrtt th,tse woulcl unnecetisill il.r burdsn the lncome Tax Dcpartrnent rvhere they u,ould br, .c,1uired to file equal number of SLIjs b::fbre the Hon'b le lirur:rre Court and it would be further t ut dr ling the exchequ:r ol11L- IJnion of India. It was also thc conler; Li ru of. the leamed litrtl"i rtq counsel that no prejudice would be ,:aris.rc1 to the Fcritioners in case if this w rit petiriorr is r,r.1,r p,rrlding of the SLps pending befbre rhe i{on,ble Supreme Crirr. 316 the fact that the petitioner is alr.calr.er.joying the beneflt o1 ir:erirn protection. Nonetheless, on ttte c:rrJrcr.quen, of this Co_rr.r ts ro why the Income Tax Department have ltct colne out uith a rr,. rrnisnr to issue appropriatc instru..trarri r) .r) trkc tnterest c 1- l-t: till the !lrri:liz,rtron .:. ) 7 appropriate steps in ensuring that proceedings under Section 148A of the Act as also the assessment orders under Section 148 of the Act are kept in a hold in the light ofthe decisions dedcided by the various High Courts, it was submitted by the leamed Standing Counsel that the said steps can only be taken at the level ofCBDT as any such steps would have to be taken Pan India and cannot be Iirnited to any of these jurisdictional High Coutls'

10. As a result of which, what we are facing is steep increase of titigation day in and day out even though various orders have been passed by this High Courl allowing writ petitions on the very same issue. The Income Iax authorities concemed are srill even now in 2025 also initiating proceedings in contravention to the provisions of Section 151A of the Act and as a result by now' more than 600 to 700 petitions have been already got pited up before this ltigh Cour.t on an issue which otherwise stands squarely covered by the judgment of this Court in the case of Kanakula Ruvindra Reddy (l supra). What is also surprising is.the fact that..though *njl"- allowing the writ petitions in the case of Kanakala Ravindra Reddy (l supra), 'the Division Bench while reserving the dght of the Revenue' has also protected the interest of the petitioners W6Pi 8 insolar :L: t1,re liberty which was granted i.o the Ilevenue lor initia-ir16 ir:sh proceedings strictly in accordauce rr itrr r.rre arnended pror.iriion; of the Act, as amended by the Finrnce .z\c.,2020 and the Fin: r_.co Act, 2021 . Thepetitioner assessee .,vou challe rg e cr. r.aise the other legal objections if thc ll,:r,,__r ue initiates fresh ltrl,:eedings. The Department has macl: nc cn:ieavour in availirrc rlr,-.:ricl Iibeny rhat was reserved lor tht. Rcvcrrrrc. On the contrar!. 1hr:r. hs1,s been still sticking on to the sta td. r,hich th.is High Corrrr rr rvell as lnany other High Courls rrlreiLdr ,reld to be Lci ir,r snlillgd 16 I l. proceedi tg s Income --ar It a rpcars that because of the aforesaid Iiberrv that rhis High Clourt hac 1:.trnted permitting the Revenue for initiati,tg tr.esh lLs a one_time measure in a facel,:ss n-rirr: ner. the I),rpartment wants to take advantage ot. Jtc : ame b1, proh.actirg tlr:;.: ltroceedings which would enabie thet.t_ to r.rcet thc Iimitation tlti r r.,,.6Llld otherwise come in the way. Like,u,is,:, il the writ petiti tr .:; kept pending for a considerable long period;rl.time and finail1 irt ,r laler stage if the Hon,ble Supreme ,llou r.r cr,nfir.rns the decisic'n t:l.t'n by this High court as also by rhe othe..High Courls in uhj:h the SLps are still pending, the lrr,:o r.r r 1_ar i I I I I I Department would get the advantage of the liberty that is otherwise protected in favour of the Revenue for initiation of fresh proceedings from the disposal of these matters at a much later stage wl-rich would be advantageous and beneficial to the Revenue and would be equalty disadvantageous and detrimental so lar as interest of the assesses are concemed. As a consequence, the Income Tax Department gets an extended period of time for initiation of fresh proceedings.

12. The alarming trend of docket explosion in this Cour1, despite the clear precedent set in Kanukala Ravindro Reddy ll supra)' is a matter of grave concern. The Income Tax Department's persistent initiation of fresh proceedings, disregarding the established judicial pronouncements, has led to an unprecedented surge in litigation rvith over 600-700 petitions piling up on the same issue' This deliberate approach not only undermines the principle of judicial precedent but also strains the judiciat resources unnecessarily' The Department's strategy of awaiting the Supreme Court's decision on pending SLPs while continuing to initiate fresh proceedings appears to be a calculated move to buy time and circumvent timitation periods, rather than adhering to the established legal 10 posrtion. Suclr conduct raises serious quest or]s about the adminisrlt tive efficiency. and the respect fr_r1 j udicial pron()un jerrents, particularly when this Court ras irlreiLdy provided a bal rnc:r approach by preserving both the Revenue,. r.ights and aSSeS:;Cii I I t,)reStS 'ri, faceless

13. .4ro lrer.aspect which needs to be consid,:red is tlrat in fact it shoul<l lra.',,: been realizecl by the Income Tax D:partme,t itself ancl shoulc rrr e lbund out via media in ensurinq that J,roccedings under S,r(.r ions l4g_A and l4g should not have bt.er ssued in a -,,rer! at reast till the Hon'ble Suprerne aourt decide the twelvc hrrcred (1200) odd SLps which it is alreacry serz.:cl oror, at least tlre t:otne Tax Deparlment should havr: lb,utcl out some remedial slcf,s to ensure that wherever the aulltor.ities intend to initiate pr c<:t:r:di,gs under Sections 14g_A and 1,1g. .thei tha, i, a faceless , il r'er, the proceedings should har e L,een defened without p.e c:rpitati,g the rnatter further intimatin.t thc ass,:ssec that they sirall iri,iare appropriate proceedings only afier;hr: liI_p,s are decided b,, 111,1 ]len,6le Suprerne Couft on the r erl sar.re issue. This again. .r.r: Income Tax Department, has not bt:en lrbie to eive a convincirre :r11,, except for the fact that such a decision if at all

1.7 has to be taken, has to be taken for the whole of India, and which otherwise has to be by way of a poticy decision and that too at the level of Central Board of Direct Taxes. Though the leamed Standing Counsel fbr the Income Tax Department contended that the Delhi High Courl dismissed a writ petition of similar nature, on the one hand when the High Courl is struggling to reduce its pendency, such notices which are under challenge in this writ petition are forcing the assessee to knock the doors of this High Court resulting in filing of hundreds of new writ petitions which in the long run not only affects the disposal of the writ petitions but also consumes substantial time of the Bench in hearing these matters again and again on daily basis. Admittedly, in spite of the matter before the Flon'ble Supreme Court having been taken on many ocoasions, thc Hon'ble Supreme Coufi which is seized of the matter has been reluctant in granting any interim protection to thc Income Tax Deparlment. Yet, the authorities concemed at the State levcl are not ready to accept the verdict passed by a majority ol High Coufts of diflerent States on the same issue; and to make things further worse, the Income Tax Department is showing audacity by issuing notices continuously under Sections 148-A and 12 l. ,r,hc'eas it ought 14ll thuruph thc jurisdictional Assessing Officer to havc hc.en only in the faceless manner. 14. In _he case of BANK OF INDIA vs COMNTISS IONER, INCOME TAXI t, on an sslrc r,,,h ethcr it was justifi at l,: ol the part of the Income 1 ax [)e| rr1 ,r cnt in not follouirg an order passed by the adjudicating ar.rtho"itv i)nly on the grounrl Iat the appeals are pending, the Divisiol Ilerch of the ASSISTANT High ('o-r:-. cf Bornbay held at paragraph lrlo.25 ,rs urrcler. viz.. : "2t; , "oi."'to i\,4 r paridwalla ''nnt'' drawn out attentior ro the de:is,i.rr c,f this court ,n mmissioner of rncome Ta.{ vs, smt. "o't God;rl,ar,idevi saraf,2 as the recent decis on of thr: co- orcinrt€, Bench of this f in samp Furniture (P) Lkl' v' 116r: of vvhicr- rre of us (Justice the c or ri caresorica,y ;:":'ffi:"li:1"1;.:';:Ji.'I; "acce )t€ c High court wourd nct mean that ti the sarrr: ir; set aside ,n , ,,'" bincin; ron;e R"ru,,.,ns,o ;l;:j:::"":,^i-;l;::: :::.: l,' Union of lndia vs. Kamlaks cou 1 rrr s -. ved,nr,,n" treat nr7 rier:isions being ,,not Supr:r.t( : ourt ln such d obsev;,ro,)s; made or,n".r;:;::"t;1"*''n ":,,:; acceptable,, was criticize(j by the are the reie\,ant ";o;:";':ffi H:f T::: the judgment of fl t,'[t2o25l [70 r r rra,n.com l] ll::lt r r in'ss',i'lil}o'fr',,'",,0,r,1 ',', [20241 ] ,5-( tr r I nann.com . 'o yroo2j,,,,,,,,,. i"- ,:,;;L'l'r9fr"[8. or, (Bomi,ay) 13 "6. Sri Reddy is perhaps right in saying that the officers were not actuated by any mala fides in passing the impugned orders. They perhaps genuinely felt that the claim of the assessee was not tenable and that, if it was accepted, the Revenue would suffer. But what Sri Reddy. overlooks is that we are not concerned here with the correctness or otherwise of their conclusion or of any factual malafides but with the fact that the officers, in reaching in their conclusion, by-passed two appellate orders in regard to the same issue which were placed before them, one of the Collector (Appeals) and the other of the Tribunal. The High Court has, in our view' rightly criticized this conduct of the Assistant Collectors and the harassment to the assessee caused by the failure of these officers to give effect to the orders of authorities higher to them in the appellate hierarchy lt cannot be too vehemently emphasized that it is of utmost importance that, in disposing of the quasijudicial issues before them, revenue officers are bound by the decisions of the appellate authorities' The order of the Appellte Collector is binding on the Assistant Collectors working within his jurisdiction and the order of the Trlbunal is binding upon the Assistant Collectors and the Appellate Collectors who function under the .jurisdiction of the Trrbunal. The principles of judicial discipline require that the orders of the higher appellate authorities should be followed unreservedly by the subordinate authorities The mere fact that the order of the appellate authority is not "acceptable" to the department - in itself an objectionable phrase - and is the sub.iect matter of an appeal can furnish no ground for not following it unless its operation has been suspended by a competent court. lf this healthy I 14 rule rs not followed, the result will only be und( te I e rassment to assesses and chaos in adminrstretir n cf tax laws. 12 We have dealt with this aspect at some l:nq r, l:lause it has been suggested by the le arne l ,\lCitional Solicitor General that the obsgly31;. a - rrade by the High Court, have been harsh on th:) It is clear that the observations cf the Hig r officers (l I rr rt, seemingly vehement, and apparenfl,/ L r 6ralatable to the Revenue, are only intended tc curll : t,:ndency in revenue matters which, if allow,:d t(, :ecome widespread, could result in considerable .raritssntent to the assesses_public without any br;nefi ic: ihe Revenue. We would Iike to say tha. tr€ d:cartment should take these observations ir flre p trprer spirit. The observations of the Hlgh Oolrrt s,hoLrld be kept in mind in future and the utmost regard sirotrld be paid by the adjudicating authorities an(j the aJrpr:llate authorities to the requirements cf jLoicial di:;r;lpllns and the need for giving effect to the orJers or lhe higher appellate authorities which arer binJing or) them." 15 \\'hlr ir; \!orrying this Bench more is trrc jhcr trrat an endeavoLrl i: b,eing made whole heartedly to ensu.e not to generate further I itig rt ot.t on issues which have becn laid :o r( st b ), a large number tf Iiish Courts all of whom have taken a corsist,)rt stand that the aclion ,rf the Income Tax Department beinr vrolati,,.e of the 15 Finance Act,2020 and Finance Act,202l . Now, in order to protect the interest of the Revenue as also that ol the assessee, it would be trite at this juncture, if we dispose of the writ petition with an observation /direction that the disposal of the instant writ petition in terms of the judgment rendered by this High Court in the case of Kankanala Ravindru Reddy (l supra) shall however be subject to the outcome of the SLPs which were filed by the Income Tax Department and which is pending consideration before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. i6. In the given lacts and circumstances, this Bench is of the considered opinion that unless and until we do not timely dispose of matters which are squarely covered by the decision of this Coutt and which stands tbrtifled by the decisions of the various other High Courls on the very same issue, the pendency of this High Court would further be burdened which other-wise can be decided and disposed of as a covered matter. fl . So lar as the interest of the Revenue is concemed, we are of the considered opinion that the interest of the Revenue has already been considered and protected, as has been observed in paragraphs 16 36,'-\7 atrl38 of the order which, for ready refbrencc. is reproduced here rn dt r : 36 lrelng For all the aforesaid reasons, the imougred n,rtices by the respor dent_ nor sr sta ir able rsisued and the proceedings drawn : epartment is neither tenable Ihe notices so issued and the procedure adofteo ,)r?r se illegal, deserves to be and accorJingl,/ set :rr;ide/quashed. As a consequence, the rnpu(lned orders getting quashed, the consequential orde.s par;sed i,! the respondent-Department pursuant -o th: no..ices ir;t;ued under Section 142 and 14g wou d ;rlso get cLashed and it is ordered accordingly. The reasor we ar,> quashing the consequential order is on the ltrinctcles llrat when the initiation of the proceedings rtself ,vas lr)cedurally wrong, the subsequent orders a lsc, Iets rr r lified automatically. 37 The preliminary objection raised by tht: pet trone:r is siustained and all these writ petitions stands allowed on t''r s very jurisdictional issue. Since the impugnec noti tes :rc orders are getting quashed on the f,oint of uris;diction, we are not inclined to proceec fudrer .,ncl rjecide the other issues raised by the petitioner wh ch r;:z rrds reserved to be raised and contendec in an a r :'opriate proceedings. :l3 Since the Hon,ble Supreme Court had in :lre ,32 sg cf r\ shish Agarwal, supra, as a one{ims measLrre e>.e rcising the powers under Article 142 r:f t re C r>rl;titution of lndia, permitted the Revenue to p -oc:ecd u,rcer the substituted provisions, and this CoJrt arlowir g tl- () setitions only on the Procedural flaw.- ths rig r11 I \ ( a7 conferred on the Revenue would remain reserved to proceed further if they so want from the stage of the order of the Supreme Court in the case of Ashish Agarwal, supra.

18. We would only further like to make observations that since we are inclined to dispose of the instant writ petition, conscious of the fact that the earlier order of this High Court in the case of I{anakula Rayindra.-Reddy (l supra) is subjected to challenge* before the Hon'ble Supreme Courl in SLP No.3574 of 2024, plelerred by the Income Tax Deparlment, we make it clear that allowing of the instant writ petition is subject to outcome of the aforesaifl SLP preferred by the Revenue against the decision of this High Court in the case of Kanukala Ravindrs Reddy (1 supra). This, in other words, would mean that either of the parties, if they so want, may move an appropriate petition seeking revival of this writ petition in the light of the decision of the I{on'ble Supreme Court in the pending SLP on the very same issue

19. Accordingly, the instant writ petition stands allowed in favour of the assessee so lar as the issue of jurisdiction IS concemed. As . a consequence, the impugned notice under challenge under Sections 148-A and 148 stands set aside/quashed. 18 Thc :c ns c iJuential orders, if any, also stancl ;et irsick,,/quashed in similtr t,rrtrs as have been passed by this High Coru.t irt the case of KnnAuttutt Ravindra Reddy (l supra). Thcr.c shall he no order as " -to'cor C ottr;t:quently, miscellaneous petitions pendir g. il an1., shall stand cl lr:J. To //TRUE COPY// SD/-K.AMMAJI DEPU ry REGISTRAR \ .I SE(::TION OFFICER I I The lncorns Tax Officer Ward 1, Sangareddy lrrcon.e Tax Office, Veerabhro.;r lJaoar. New Bus stand, vedraoniira r.rogai, singareodj; Telangarra The Princ perl_ Ctrief Commissioner of lncome Tax-Telanr;ana and A.p, Hyderab,ld, l-T Towers, AC Guards, lVlasab Tank, fiVO"tfaOrO_-SOOb)'A, Telangarra The Cen'.ra,i Ei,r;rrd of Direct Taxes, Represented by irs Chairnran, Department of Reveru,:. Nrinistry of Finance, covernmeniot-tirJL. s,ecii ta;irliir]rdi'is!, New Dellri . 11(r OOi. The Naticr al Faceless Assessment Center, lncomr-. Tax D,,:partment, New Delhi. The Sec'etary :o the Government,. Union of lndia. I)epirrtme.rnt of Revenue, N/inistry ('f :irr.ltce, New Delhi - .l 1O 001 One CC ro {ic L THANNERU CHAITANYA KUMAR, ,\dvc,care, IOpUct one CC ro tVtr; J SUNITHA (JUNtoR SC FoR iNCbME .li) iopir6i Two CD (lc piss 2 3 4 5 o 7 B /W" B M /BSh. HIGH COUR:'t DATED:01 lAt!i12025 I ORDER WP.No.31430 of 2024 \'..) \ -/.: | .i-; : _ r:,=- i{. o d'( ? 7 ',lll'i 20m .+. '\--i\. )l: .,, re ",( .::-_ . ALLOWING THE WRIT PETITION WITHOUT COSTS \1 -1,i )i l\ L1

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