Recovery of Tax Just After a Day of Dismissal of Appeal at First Level is Not Valid | Patna HC

Case Details: Sita Pandey v. State of Bihar - [2023] 154 taxmann.com 152 (Patna)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • K. Vinod Chandran, CJ. & Partha Sarthy, J.
  • Saket Tiwary, Rakesh Kumar Singh & Amritya Raj, Advs. for the Petitioner.
  • Vivek Prasad for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, a demand order was passed against the petitioner against which the petitioner filed an appeal with the first appellate authority. The appeal got rejected and on the next day of rejection of appeal, the department initiated recovery proceedings.

High Court Held

The Honorable Patna High Court noted that the initiation of recovery proceedings on the very next day of rejection of the first appeal is against the Principle of natural justice. The time limit for filing the second appeal has not expired. Further, no reason has been shown by the revenue as to how the interest of the revenue would be affected if the recovery proceedings were kept in abeyance. Hence, the amount forfeited is directed to be paid back deducting the 20% as the amount of pre-deposit required to be made by the petitioner.

List of Cases Reviewed

• • UTI Mutual Fund v. ITO [2012] 19 taxmann.com 250/206 Taxman 341/345 ITR 71 (Bom.) (para 16) followed.

List of Cases Referred to

• • Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner AIR 1978 SC 851 (para 11)
  • UTI Mutual Fund v. ITO [2012] 19 taxmann.com 250/206 Taxman 341/345 ITR 71 (Bom.) (para 16)