Sh Vyome Mehta vs. Income Tax Department And 3 Others
Held
The Court held that while the petitioner's defense of identity theft is valid and can be raised during re-assessment, the preliminary stage under Section 148-A of the Income Tax Act does not require the revenue to conclusively prove the transactions were performed by the petitioner. The revenue is only obligated to show relevant material to initiate re-assessment.
Facts
The petitioner, a salaried employee, received a show cause notice for re-assessment proceedings under the Income Tax Act based on information linking his PAN to significant business transactions. He denied any business involvement, claiming identity theft and providing GST authority communication indicating his GST registration was cancelled due to the firm not being found at the registered address.
Key Issues
Whether the Income Tax Officer was required to conduct further inquiries to ascertain the petitioner's involvement in business transactions before initiating re-assessment proceedings, given the petitioner's claim of identity theft and GST cancellation.
Sections Cited
Section 148-A, Section 148
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD WRIT TAX No. - 3376 of 2026 Court No. - 39 HON'BLE SAUMITRA DAYAL SINGH, J. HON'BLE ARUN KUMAR, J.
Heard Sri Vaibhav Kush along with Sri Nitin Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Ankur Agarwal, learned Senior Standing Counsel for the revenue.
Present writ petition has been filed to challenge the re-assessment proceedings initiated against the petitioner under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') for the A.Y. 2022-23. 3. The petitioner describes himself to be a salaried employee of a private Corporation. Alternatively, it has been stated that the petitioner had never engaged in any business activity of sale or supply of goods or services. For the assessment year in question, the petitioner had filed its Income Tax Return disclosing annual income Rs.4,15,630/-. He had not derived any other income. In those circumstances, the petitioner was surprised to receive show cause notice dated 30.3.2026 issued under Section 148-A(1) of the Act. In that, reference has been made to information derived under the risk management strategy through the Income Tax Portal. In short, information has been d
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