ATS INFRASTRUCTURE LTD Vs. CIT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is the second salvo of the Petitioners seeking to invoke extraordinary of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The Petitioners challenge the transfer of their cases from Delhi to Meerut in terms of the impugned Order dated 1. 4. 2009 passed by the Commissioner of Income- Tax, delhi-I, New Delhi under Section 127 (2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (Act for short), Section 11 of the Wealth Tax Act, 1957 and Section 7 of the Gift Tax Act, 1958. The relevant details stand clarified in the Table below:-Sl. Name of the assessee From To No. (1) (2) (3) (4) 1 M/s Alstonia Township (P) ITO Ward ACIT, Central Ltd. 1 (3), new Circle, Meerut PAN AAECA4455a Delhi 2 Shri Ashwani Talwar DCIT, Circle ACIT, Central PAN AAAPT0920e 2 (1), New circle, Meerut Delhi 3 Shri Anil Kumar Saha DCIT, Circle ACIT, Central PAN AMYPS1829d 2 (1), New circle, Meerut Delhi 4 Shri Geetambar Anand DCIT, Circle ACIT, Central PAN ACHPA0868k 2 (1), New circle, Meerut Delhi 5 M/s ATS Infrastructure DCIT, Circle ACIT, Central Ltd. 2 (1), New Circle, meerut PAN AADCA0809d Delhi 6 M/s ATS Promoters and ITO Ward ACIT, Central Builders (P) Ltd. 2 (2), New Circle, meerut PAN AABCA4298c Delhi 7 M/s ATS Construction and ITO Ward ACIT, Central Maintenance (P) Ltd. 2 (2), New circle, Meerut PAN AACCS0562q Delhi 2. Earlier, seven Writ Petitions had been filed on 5. 12. 2008 challenging the impugned letter dated 7. 10. 2008 which had earlier transferred the subject cases in the same manner as has been done in the impugned decision dated 1. 4. 2009. The springboard for this action was the notice issued by the Commissioner of income-tax, Delhi-I, New Delhi by Communication dated 30. 9. 2008 which reads thus:- OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX DELHI-I, NEW DELHI f. No. CIT-I/ito Hq-I/centralisation/08-09/972 Dtd: 30. 9. 08 The Principal officer m/s. ATS Infrastructure Ltd. K-19, Sec.-18 noida sir, sub : Proposal to transfer jurisdiction over your case with ACIT, Central circle, Meerut Show cause notice u/s 127 of I. T. Act, 1961 a search action was conducted in cases of M/s ATS group of cases on 15. 02. 2008 which included your case as well.

(2.) CONSIDERING the intimate connection that you enjoy with the above group of cases it is necessary that your case is centralized with the Assessing officer handling other cases of the group. Therefore, to ensure proper investigation in the search assessments of the aforesaid Group, I propose to pass an order transferring jurisdiction over your case from DCIT, Cir.-2 (1), New delhi to ACIT, Central Circle, Meerut. 3. If you have any objection to the said proposal, please furnish the same to this office at the above given address within 6th October, 2008 from the receipt of this letter either personally or through an authorized representative. 4. Please note that if nothing is heard from you, the matter will be decided on merits. Yours faithfully, ( VIJAY SHARMA )Commissioner of Income Tax, delhi-I, New Delhi.

(3.) THE Order that had been previously passed thereon, dated 7. 10. 2008, did not contain any reasons on which the decision to transfer the cases was founded and, therefore, it was set aside by Order of this Court. However, the CIT, delhi-I, New Delhi was permitted to pass order under Section 127 (2) after granting a further opportunity of hearing to the Petitioners, making it clear that the Objections that may be raised by the Petitioners must be decided by a speaking order.