Kamal Nath Vs PCIT Kolkata (Calcutta High Court)
Date-6th January 2023
Sub-What are the grounds on which transfer of assessment records/jurisdiction can be challenged u/s 127 of the Income-tax Act,1961?

In this high profile case relating to ex-chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, when Dr A M Singhvi along with Mr JP Khaitan represented the petitioner before Hon’ble Justice Shekhar Saraf challenging the order of transfer u/s 127 of the Income-tax Act,1961 which was passed in pursuance of a search and survey at the residence of involved persons at Kolkata, Delhi and Bhopal in which several transactions of several crores of rupees were unearthed linking the petitioner and the Indian National Congress on WhatsApp chat, phone and diary etc. On these facts the department wanted to transfer the assessment to Delhi as the petitioner had been mainly staying at Bhopal and Delhi and had maintained bank account also at Delhi. The petitioner challenged transfer interalia on the ground that there is no live link , the transfer was based on suspicion, there was no search on the petitioner , the petitioner will face difficulty as it had always been assessed in Kolkata. However, the Ld Judge brushing aside the submissions of petitioner and dismissing the Writ petition upheld the transfer relying on several decisions where it was held that i) there is no absolute right to be assessed in a particular territory, ii) the inconvenience of assessee has to be balanced against department’s right to carry its functions and scope of judicial review is limited.

This judgement is a landmark judgement in relation to Section 127 of the Act.

Ramesh Patodia
07-01-2023