DEEPAKBHAI RAMJIBHAI PATEL Vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has challenged the notice dated August 21, 2013, issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ("the Act" for short). Under such notice, the Assessing Officer desired to reopen the assessment of the petitioner for the assessment year 2009-10 which was previously framed after scrutiny. The notice was thus issued within the period of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year. The Assessing Officer supplied the reasons recorded by him for issuing such notice to the petitioner which read as under:

(2.) Counsel for the petitioner drew our attention to the documents on record and pointed out that in the return filed by the petitioner on September 18, 2009, the major claim of the petitioner was for exemption under section 54B of the Act. During the course of the original assessment, such claim was scrutinized thoroughly by the Assessing Officer. Only upon being satisfied about the validity of the claim, he framed assessment making no change. It is this assessment which the Assessing Officer desires to reopen on the basis that the petitioner sold the land which was converted into non-agricultural land and that, therefore, exemption under section 54B of the Act was not available. He submitted that such ground even otherwise lacked validity. The petitioner held agricultural land and used it for agricultural purpose right till the end it was sold. In order to sell the land to a non-agriculturist, the same had to be converted into a non-agricultural land. Such permission was granted by the Government on February 10, 2009, and the land was sold on February 17, 2009.

(3.) On the other hand, learned counsel, Mrs. Bhatt, for the Revenue opposed the petition contending that in the original assessment the question of exemption under section 54B of the Act with respect to the land which was sold as non-agricultural land was never examined by the Assessing Officer. At this stage, sufficiency of reasons recorded by him cannot be gone into.