RAMESH CHAURASIA Vs. DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner encountered a Look Out Circular when he attempted to travel overseas on 30/5/2023. Apparently, this Look Out Circular or LOC was issued at the instance of the 1st Respondent, Deputy Director of Income Tax.

(2.) The Petitioner is the wife of the promoter of the ARC group. He is also independently assessed to tax. There is no dispute that the tax authorities carried out search and seizure of ARC entities and promoters, including the present Petitioner, on 15/2/2022.

(3.) Mr Rajadhyaksha also draws our attention to a communication dtd. 31/5/2023 from the Deputy Director of Income Tax Investigations to the FRRO Mumbai. This clarifies that LOCs were indeed issued against inter alia the Petitioner and others in his family. These are said to be without any expiry date and are said to be in force until there is a deletion request from the originator. But what follows in the second paragraph is important. Here, the Income Tax says that the appraisal report and the seized material and case records have been handed over to the jurisdictional assessing officer in central charge. There were no pending proceedings with the authority which triggered the LOC. The assessing officer was informed about the position of the LOC and it is he who said that the LOC will continue till 31/3/2024, i.e., the due date for completion of assessment proceedings.