Calcutta High Court
M/S Arati Marketing Private Limited vs Union Of India And Ors on 29 September, 2023
Author: Md. Nizamuddin
Bench: Md. Nizamuddin
1
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction
Original Side
Present :- Hon'ble Mr. Justice Md. Nizamuddin
W.P.O. No. 2747 of 2022
M/S ARATI MARKETING PRIVATE LIMITED
Vs.
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
With
W.P.O. 2550 OF 2022, W.P.O. No. 2551 of 2022, W.P.O. No.
2590 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2610 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2612 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2613 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2614 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2615 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2616 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2617 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2618 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2619
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2620 of 2022, WPO 2637 of 2022, WPO
2638 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2639 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2647 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2648 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2649 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2650 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2652 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2653 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2654 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2655
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2665 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2667 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2669 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2677 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2678 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2679 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2681
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2682 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2683 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2684 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2685 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2686 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2687 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2689
of 2022, WPO 2693 of 2022, WPO 2708 of 2022, W.P.O. No.
2710 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2715 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2716 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2717 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2719 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2722 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2726 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2727 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2728 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2729
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2734 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2735 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2736 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2741 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2742 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2743 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2744
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2745 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2746 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2748 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2749 of 2022, W.P.O.
2
No. 2750 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2751 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2754
of 2022, WPO 2755 of 2022, WPO 2756 of 2022, W.P.O. No.
2757 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2758 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2760 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2761 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2762 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2765 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2766 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2770 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2771 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2772
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2773 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2781 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2782 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2788 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2792 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2841 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2842
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2860 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2862 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2864 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2865 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2866 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2867 of 2022, WPO 2868 of
2022, WPO 2869 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2870 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2872 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2877 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2880
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2881 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2882 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2884 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2885 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2887 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2891 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2892
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2900 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2902 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2903 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2914 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2915 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2918 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2919
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2920 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2921 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2922 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2923 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2925 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2926 of 2022, WPO 2931 of
2022, WPO 2933 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2934 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2935 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2937 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2967
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2968 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2969 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2981 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2982 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2999 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3001 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3003
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3033 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3036 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3042 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3043 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3044 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3090 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3091
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3092 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3093 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3095 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3096 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3097 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3098 of 2022, WPO 3099 of
2022, WPO 3100 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3117 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3119 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3134 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3135
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3136 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3138 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3146 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3148 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3149 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3150 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3174
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3177 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3185 of 2022,
3
W.P.O. No. 3191 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3247 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3248 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3249 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3250
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3310 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3311 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3337 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3338 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3339 of 2022, WPO 3340 of 2022, WPO 3342 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3363 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3366 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3379 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3380 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3382
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 9 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 10 of 2023, W.P.O.
No. 11 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 15 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 16 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 17 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 18 of 2023, W.P.O.
No. 44 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 47 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 48 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 49 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 50 of 2023, W.P.O.
No. 61 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 62 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 63 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 67 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 69 of 2023, W.P.O.
No. 95 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 98 of 2023, WPO 99 of 2023, WPO
104 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 127 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 128 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 132 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 136 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
154 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 155 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 156 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 177 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 178 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
180 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 209 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 210 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 220 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 221 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
223 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 224 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 244 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 250 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 252 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
258 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 259 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 263 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 272 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 273 of 2023, WPO 316 of
2023, WPO 317 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 323 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
324 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 325 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 355 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 356 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 365 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
366 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 367 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 368 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 369 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 371 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
377 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 391 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 432 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 440 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 453 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
480 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 484 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 485 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 487 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 491 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
492 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 493 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 494 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 495 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 504 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
506 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 511 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 519 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 520 of 2023, WPO 522 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 545 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 548 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 549 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 550 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 553 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
4
554 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 555 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 575 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 585 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 597 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
601 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 602 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 605 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 625 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 626 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
627 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 628 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 630 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 639 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 641 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
643 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 644 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 657 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 658 of 2023, WPO 659 of 2023, WPO 660 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 661 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 665 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
680 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 681 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 682 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 683 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 684 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
685 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 687 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 692 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 693 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 694 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
695 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 696 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 698 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 702 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 703 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
704 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 709 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 725 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 728 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 729 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
730 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 731 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 732 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 733 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 746 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
749 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 750 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 751 of 2023,
WPO 756 of 2023, WPO 757 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 767 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 768 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 769 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
770 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 771 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 774 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 787 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 788 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
789 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 790 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 792 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 813 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 821 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
830 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 848 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 850 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 851 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 875 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
884 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 916 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 917 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 919 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 935 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 954 of 2023, WPO 957 of 2023, WPO 959 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 960 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 965 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
967 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 975 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 976 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 1000 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 1002 of 2023, W.P.O.
No. 1003 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 1004 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 1005
of 2023, W.P.O. No. 1006 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 1059 OF 2023,
WPO 2779 OF 2022, W.P.O. No. 2694 of 2022, W.P.O. No.
2695 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2697 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2700 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2702 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2688 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2690 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2692 of 2022, W.P.O.
5
No. 2597 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2696 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2701
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2703 of 2022, WPO 2537 of 2022, WPO
2593 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2747 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2979 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 3120 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3355 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2804 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2805 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 83 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 260 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 372 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 373 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 329 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 478 of 2023, W.P.O. 2598 OF 2022, W.P.O. No.
939 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 528 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 3345 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2816 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2801 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2800 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2796 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2795 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2794 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2793
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2945 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2941 of 2022,
WPO 2938 of 2022, WPO 2930 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2989 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2990 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2984 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 2777 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2778 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3088 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2992 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2993
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2994 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3063 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3064 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3065 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3066 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3087 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3111
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3112 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3123 of 2022,
W.P.O. No. 3124 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3125 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 3128 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3129 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3334
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3369 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3346 of 2022,
WPO 3349 of 2022, WPO 3350 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 3351 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 3352 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 149 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 170 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 171 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
172 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 190 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 256 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 456 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 458 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
459 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 461 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 462 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 463 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 464 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
465 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 466 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 565 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 566 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 569 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
671 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 672 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 673 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 675 of 2023, WPO 676 of 2023, WPO 677 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 678 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 679 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
818 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 852 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 1019 of
2023, W.P.O. No. 1166 of 2023, W.P.O. 3344 OF 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2472 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2497 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2500
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2501 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2507 of 2022,
6
W.P.O. No. 2508 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2509 of 2022, W.P.O.
No. 2512 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2513 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2514
of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2560 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2594 of 2022,
WPO 2611 of 2022, WPO 2641 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2644 of
2022, W.P.O. No. 2662 of 2022, W.P.O. No. 2663 of 2022,
W.P.O. 2454 OF 2022, W.P.O. No. 70 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 71
of 2023, W.P.O. No. 72 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 73 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 74 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 75 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 76
of 2023, W.P.O. No. 79 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 89 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 294 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 303 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
305 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 306 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 312 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 313 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 321 of 2023, W.P.O. No.
345 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 347 of 2023, W.P.O. No. 351 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 805 of 2023, WPO 993 of 2023, WPO 994 of 2023,
W.P.O. No. 1031 of 2023, W.P.O. 2504 OF 2022, W.P.O. 939
of 2023, WPO 1603 of 2023.
For the Petitioners :-
Mr. J.P. Khaitan, Sr. Adv., Mr. Abhrotosh Majumder, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rohit Jain, Mr.
Avra Mazumder, Mr. Aniket D. Agarwal, Mr. Protyush Jhunjhunwala, Ms. Arijita
Ghosh, Mr. Sanjay Bhowmick, Mr. Saurabh Bagadia, Mr. Saumya Kejriwal, Mr.
Samarth Chaudhuri, Mr. Samrat Das, Ms. Ananya Rath, Mr. Salil Kapoor. Mr.
Vibhu Jain, Mr. A.K. Dey, Ms. Sanjukta Gupta, Ms. Sonia Sharma, Mr. Kushagra
Shah, Ms. Swapna Das, Mr. Siddharth Das, Mr. Subash Agarwal, Mr. Brijesh
Kumar Singh, Mr. Arvind Agarwal, Mr. Farhan Ghaffar, Mr. Om Prakash Prasad,
Ms. Debanjana De, Mr. Rites Goel, Mr. Gouri Shankar Gupta, Mr. Samit Rudra,
Mr. Mrigank Kejriwal, Mr. Navin Mittal, Ms. Rosy Banerjee, Mr. Amit Agarwal, Mr.
Pradeep Jewrajka, Ms. Pooja Jewrajka, Ms. Anjali Tulsian, Ms. Arti Agarwal, Mr.
Binayak Gupta, Mr. Subrata Mukherjee, Mr. Hemant Tiwari, Mr. Sarban
Bhattacharjee, Mr. A.K. Upadhyay, Mr. Anirudhya Dutta, Mr. Pranab Sharma, Mr.
Arijit Sarkar, Mr. Sagnik Chatterjee, Mr. Indranil Banerjee, Ms. Anupa Banerjee,
Advocates
For the Respondents :-
Mr. Vipul Kundalia, Mr. Smarajit Roy Chowdhury, Mr. Om Narayan Rai, Mr. Aryak Dutt,
Mr. Tilak Mitra, Ms. Smita Das De, Mr. Prithu Dudhoria, Mr. Soumen Bhattacharjee, Mr.
Amit Sharma, Advocates
Dated : 29th September, 2023
MD. NIZAMUDDIN, J.
The Court : Heard learned advocates appearing for the parties. 7 Since all these matters have been substantially heard at length days together, as an exceptional case let these matters be treated as part heard.
The main issue which is subject matter of challenge in all these writ petitions is legality and validity of issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 relating to assessment years 2013-14 and 2014- 15 being barred by limitation in view of the proviso to Section 149(1) of the Finance Act, 2021, which came into force on the 1st Day of April, 2021, by the respondent Income Tax Authorities by relying on Section 3(1) of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2022 (hereinafter referred to as TOLA in short) which is a special law having its force for a limited period and the life of which was extended from time to time by the Central Government by virtue of power conferred upon it under Section 3(1) and particularly two last such notifications which are having effect of overlapping the same period in view of proviso to Section 149 of the Finance Act, 2021 which came into effect from 1st April, 2021 and the constitutional validity and legality of the aforesaid last such notifications dated 31st March, 2021 and 27th April, 2021 issued by the Central Government by virtue of power conferred under Section 3(1) of TOLA which came into force on 31st March, 2020.
List all these matters for further argument on 23rd November, 2023 at 2 p.m. (MD. NIZAMUDDIN, J.) TR/ 8 9