The Supreme court has slammed the Income Tax department for making ‘misleading Statement’ over the pendency of an appeal. The apex court made it clear that the top court cannot be treated as a ‘picnic place’.
A fine of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed on the department. The bench headed by Justice Madan B Loku said that they have been left shocked that the matter was taken ‘so Casually’ by the center.
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The IT department filed the plea after the delay of 596 days and an inadequate and unconvincing explanation was given for the delay, the apex court noted in its order.
‘Please do not do this. The Supreme Court is not a picnic place. Is this the way you treat the Supreme Court of India? You cannot treat the Supreme Court like this,’ the bench said.
The Commissioner of Income Tax, Ghaziabad, in his the petition has mentioned that a similar matter filed in 2012 was pending in the court. It was later noted that matter referred to as pending by the department was decided by the top court way back in September 2012.
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‘In other words, the petitioners have given a totally misleading statement before this court. We are shocked that the Union of India through the Commissioner of Income Tax has taken the matter so casually,’ the bench said in its order while dismissing the petition, reported news agency PTI.
The department had moved the top court challenging the August 29, 2016 judgement of the Allahabad High Court which had dismissed their appeal against an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order on different assessment years concerning the Hapur Pilkhuwa Development Authority (HPDA), a body constituted under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973.