SUMERMAL JAIN Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In some ways this petition epitomises how resourceful litigants hold the judicial system to ransom and subvert due process if the slightest uncomfortable question is posed as to the manner of their amassing the wealth they flaunt. The observations herein should be confined to the limited import of the issues raised in the present proceedings and should not spill over to prejudice the petitioners elsewhere; but it cannot be missed that the petitioners have invited the decision and the ramifications thereof on themselves.

(2.) The petition seeks a declaration that the search and seizure operation conducted at the residence and the office of the petitioners on August 1, 2013 was illegal. As a consequence, the petitioners seek appropriate writs of mandamus, prohibition and certiorari to arrest the effect of what the petitioners perceive to be an illegal process initiated under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

(3.) Ordinarily, the filing of the petition itself would have served the purpose for which the petitioners carried it to court; for the challenge to the propriety of the search and seizure under Section 132 of the Act would require affidavits to be called for and push the matter to hearing. It is now common knowledge that hearing matters are not taken up in a hurry as courts and judges are not afforded the kind of time that is necessary for hearing matters to be taken up after tackling the weight of the motions that are traditionally placed ahead in the cause list. Unfortunately for these petitioners, the hearing was expedited and taken up, whereupon an application has been filed in which notices issued under Section 131 of the Act subsequent to the institution of the petition have been sought to be challenged.