No Personal Hearing Needed Before Case Transfer | HC

Case Details: Shreeji Foods (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India - [2025] 176 taxmann.com 484 (Telangana) 

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• P.Sam Koshy & NARSING RAO NANDIKONDA
• V. Aneesh, Adv. for the Petitioner. 
•  M. Vijay Kumar, Adv. for the Respondent.

Fact of the Case

The assessee was a company. During the search operations at the entity of the SAIL Group at Delhi, the Assessing Officer (AO) found certain incriminating documents against the assessee. Subsequently, the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCIT) passed an order transferring the case of the assessee from the jurisdiction of the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax-2, Hyderabad, to the jurisdiction of the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax-2, New Delhi.
The assessee filed a writ petition before the Telangana High Court, contending that the impugned order was passed without affording a proper opportunity of hearing or recording adequate reasons.

HC Held

The High Court held that the notice was issued to the assessee, and the assessee submitted objections. Therefore, the assessee was given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. Section 127(1) only mandates that an assessee be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. It does not enshrine the granting of a personal hearing anywhere. Moreover, the section also stipulates that this opportunity must be given only where it is possible to do so, which would otherwise mean that, if it were not possible, the granting of an opportunity for a hearing could also be skipped or waived.
In the instant case, admittedly, an opportunity of hearing was given to the assessee, which the assessee responded to. Thus, the contention that the order was passed without granting a reasonable opportunity of being heard was held to be incorrect. Therefore, it could not be said that it violated the principles of natural justice.