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The Bombay High Court has granted a stay on the Income Tax (IT) department’s show cause notice issued to Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal regarding the reassessment of his taxable income under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act (ITA).
The court has also asked the department to explain why the court should not rule that the notice was invalidly issued since it lacked a signature.
Meanwhile, advocate Suresh Kumar, representing the Union of India and the Income Tax Department, sought three weeks to respond to Bhujbal’s petition.
The division bench of Justices KR Shriram and NR Borkar granted Kumar the extension of time and directed that the affidavit in response, “which shall be filed by Santosh Kumar Srivastava, Ward 20[1][1], Mumbai, the person who has issued a notice under section 148 of the Act dated March 31, 2021, the said Mr Santosh Kumar Srivastava shall explain why the notice does not contain his digital signature and since it is not a signed document, why should the court not hold that it is not a validly issued notice? Re-joinders, if any, must be filed within a week.”
The court will hear Bhujbal’s petition on April 26, and while the relief was being granted, the bench stated, “Ad-interim relief in terms of prayer clause [d] is granted until April 30, 2022.”
