Inayatulla v. The Income-Tax Officer

ORDER

The present petition has been filed seeking to set aside the impugned order at Annexure-B which is an order passed under 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

¶2It is the case of the petitioner that the order at Annexure-B was preceded by a notice under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act and such notice was not served on the petitioner. It is submitted that the email ID of the petitioner referred to in the order at Annexure-B is an email ID created by the auditor and was not communicated to the petitioner.

¶3It is noticed that the order under Section 148A(d) at Annexure-B has been passed without any reply

to the notice issued under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act as is made out in para 4 of the order.

¶4Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that taking note of the consequences and that petitioner has material to demonstrate that the order under Section 148A(d) need not be passed, an opportunity may be provided.

¶5Sri. Dilip M, learned counsel for the revenue submits that the email ID referred to at Annexure-B is that of the petitioner and the petitioner is solely responsible if the auditor has not communicated regarding the notices sent to the petitioner.

¶6Taking note of the consequences flowing from the order passed under Section 148A(d) and noticing that the order is passed without any reply of the petitioner, it would be appropriate to afford an opportunity to the petitioner to make out reply to the notice issued under Section 148A(b), which would meet the ends of justice.

¶7Accordingly, the order at Annexure-B is set aside and the consequential orders at Annexures-C and D are also set aside in light of the defect notice vitiating the order under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act. The matter is remitted to the stage of reply to the notice under Section 148A(b). All contentions are kept open.

¶8In light of the above, the writ petition is disposed of.

Sd/- (S SUNIL DUTT YADAV) JUDGE

VP

NC:(2026:KHC:4469( WP(No.(38135(of(2025( ( , ,,HC-KAR( ( ( IN(THE(HIGH(COURT(OF(KARNATAKA(AT(BENGALURU( THDATED(THIS(THE(28 (DAY(OF(JANUARY,(2026( BEFORE( THE(HON'BLE(MR.(JUSTICE(S(SUNIL(DUTT(YADAV( WRIT(PETITION(NO.(38135(OF(2025((T-IT)( ( BETWEEN:(( ( INAYATULLA, AGED,ABOUT,49,YEARS,, SON,OF,LATE,MOHAMMED,SIBGATHULLA, NO.5,MOORE,ROAD,, FRAZER,TOWN,, BANGALORE-560005., …PETITIONER, (BY,SMT.,PRATIBHA,VASANTRAO,RAJESHWARKAR,,ADVOCATE), ( AND:( ( 1., THE,INCOME-TAX,OFFICER, INCOME-TAX,DEPARTMENT,,WARD-,1(2)(1),, BMTC,BUILDING,,80,FEET,ROAD,,, TH6 ,BLOCK,,NEAR,KHB,GAMES,VILLAGE,, KORAMANGALA,,BANGALORE-560095.,Digitally signedtiby , VIJAYA0P 2., THE,INCOME,TAX,OFFICER,Location: HIGH NATIONAL,FACELESS,ASSESSMENT,CENTRE,, COURT0OF NORTH,BLOCK,,DELHI-110001.,KARNATAKA …RESPONDENTS, (BY,SRI.,M.,DILIP,,ADVOCATE), , , THIS, WP, IS, FILED, UNDER, ARTICLES, 226, AND, 227, OF, THE, CONSTITUTION, OF, INDIA, PRAYING, TO, QUASH, THE, IMPUGNED, ORDERS, PASSED, BY, RESPONDENT, NO.1, IN, ITBA/AST/F/148A/2023-24/1061606210(1),DATED,27.02.2024, AY-2017-18,WHICH,IS,PRODUCED,AT,ANNEXURE-B,AS,BEING, PERVERSE,, ILLEGAL, AND, UNSUSTAINABLE, IN, LAW,, THEREBY, DIRECTING RESPONDENT NO.1 TO CANCEL THE ORDER PASSED U/S 148A(D) OF THE ACT AND ETC. THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S SUNIL DUTT YADAV