Bombay HC keeps IT Assessment Order against Deepak Kochhar in abeyance to allow him to move First Appellate Authority [Read Order]

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband, Deepak Kochhar liberty to appeal against an Income Tax (IT) Assessment Order challenged by him before first appellate authority. .The High Court also added that it is open to Kochhar to file an application for staying the IT Assessment Order before the first appellate authority. To enable him to avail this statutory remedy, the High Court has kept the challenged assessment order in abeyance. .The order passed in this regard reads,.To enable the petitioner to avail his remedy as provided under the Statute and till such time, the application for stay is decided by the first appellate authority, the assessment order dated 28.12.2019 shall be kept in abeyanceBombay High Court.A Division Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Milind N Jadhav passed an order in a plea by Deepak Kochhar, who had challenged and assailed legality and validity of the Assessment Order issued on December 28, 2019..The Assessment Order in question, passed under Section 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, pertains to the Assessment Year 2012-13..It was submitted by Kochhar that a sum of nearly Rs. 394.46 Crore was added to his income under Section 56 (1) of the Income Tax Act as benefit received on account of receipt of share premium by way of getting control and management of NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL)..Appearing for Kochhar, Senior Council Jehangir D Mistry argued that this addition was made without any notice to the petitioner and without hearing the petitioner. It was further argued that the addition is devoid of any deliberation by the Assessing Officer..On the other hand, a preliminary objection regarding availability of alternative remedy was raised by the IT authorities through Advocate Sham Walve. Walve submitted that Kochhar may be asked to approach the alternate, statutory forum..In response, Mistry argued for Kochhar that when there is absolute violation of the principles of natural justice, the question of availing the alternative remedy would not arise. All the same, it was submitted by Kochhar that he is not shying away from contesting this addition and will file an appeal as per law..The Income Tax Department, in the meanwhile, has also opposed the submission that there is violation of principles of natural justice. It was argued that ample opportunity was granted to the petitioner in the matter..After perusing submissions, the Bench finally decided to grant Deepak Kochhar liberty to file an appeal and an application for stay against the assessment order before the statutory First Appellate Authority within four weeks. In doing so, the Court also ordered that the said Assessment Order shall be kept in abeyance until the Appellate Authority decides on the plea..The Court, however, clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on merits of the case. As recorded in the order,.“Needless to say, we have not expressed any opinion on merit and all contentions are kept open. It is also made clear that if the appeal order goes against the petitioner, the same shall also be kept in abeyance for a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of the order to enable the petitioner to avail the statutory remedy as provided under the Act.”.Along with Senior Counsel Jehangir D Mistry, advocates Madhur Agarwal and AK Jasani appeared for Deepak Kochhar. Along with advocate Sham Walve, advocate Pritesh Chatterjee represented the Income Tax Authorities..On a related note, Chanda Kochhar had moved Bombay High Court challenging her termination earlier this year and seeking a clawback of bonuses she received between April 2009 and March 2018. The termination was made after a report by Committee appointed with Justice BN Srikrishna on Board indicted Chanda Kochhar on allegations that Videocon Industries was granted loans by ICICI Bank and, in quid pro quo, Videocon invested in Nupower Renewables, the company of Deepak Kochhar i.e. Chanda Kochhar’s husband..On January 13, the ICICI Bank had submitted before the Bombay High Court that termination of Chanda Kochhar was on account of her being in violation of the code of business conduct, ethics and failing to disclose conflict of interest. Moreover, the ICICI Bank has filed a separate monetary suit seeking effect to Kochhar’s termination and recovery of various amounts of nearly Rs. 47 Crore from her..[Read Order dated January 24, 2020]