Radha Krishan Industries Vs the UOI and Others — Income Tax | Himachal Pradesh HC (2025)

Radha Krishan Industries Vs the UOI and Others — Income Tax | Himachal Pradesh HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petition disposed of with proceedings before the competent authority stayed till final decision by the Hon'ble Supreme Court; petition directed to be governed by, and bound by, the Supreme Court's judgment; pending application(s) also disposed of; liberty reserved to agitate the unpressed second prayer separately if anything still survives.

Issue for consideration

Legality, validity and propriety of the notice under Section 148 dated 25.04.2024 (Annexure P-1) challenged in prayer (i), an issue already pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. +1 more

Court's answer

Keeping in view judicial discipline, the Court refrains from giving its opinion on the impugned notice under Section 148 dated 25.04.2024 (Annexure P-1), as assailed in the petition, because the issue is already pending consideration before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

Ratio / Principle

The present petition shall be governed by the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, and the decision therein shall be binding on this case also.

Key takeaways

Continuity of proceedings before the competent authority during the pendency of the matter before the Hon'ble Supreme Court would lead to multiplicity of litigation; therefore such proceedings are stayed until the issue is finally decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.ratio¶¶19

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Income-tax (Section 148 notice) - Himachal Pradesh High Court disposes of CWP without adjudicating the validity of the impugned Section 148 notice dated 25.04.2024 (Annexure P-1), since the identical issue is pending before the Supreme Court of India in SLP(C) No. 17040/2024 (Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr. v. M/s Dr. Reddy Laboratories Ltd., with connected matters). Out of judicial discipline the Court declines to express an opinion on the notice; directs that the petition shall be governed by the Supreme Court's judgment, whose decision shall be binding on this case; and stays proceedings before the competent authority till the Supreme Court finally decides, to avoid multiplicity of litigation. The second prayer challenging the Section 127 transfer order dated 28.02.2025 was not pressed, with liberty reserved to pursue it separately.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA

CWP No. 19007 of 2025 Date of Decision: 02.12.2025

__________________________________________________ Radha Krishan Industries ...Petitioner… Versus Union of India & others …..Respondents...

Coram Hon'ble Mr. Justice Vivek Singh Thakur, Judge. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Romesh Verma, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?¹

For the petitioner: Mr. Kumail Abbas, Advocate (through video conference) and Mr. Goverdhan Lal Sharma, Advocate. For the respondents: Mr. Bharat Bhushan, Senior Panel Counsel, for respondent No.1. Mr. Neeraj Sharma and Mr. Ishan Kashyap, Advocates, for respondents No. 2 and 3.

_________________________________________________________ Vivek Singh Thakur, Judge (oral)

Issue notice. Mr. Neeraj Sharma, Advocate waives service

and accepts notice on behalf of the respondents.

The instant petition has been filed for grant of the following substantive relief:-

“(i) That this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to issue writ in the nature of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, thereby quashing/setting aside the impugned notice under Section 148 dated 25.04.2024 (Annexure P-1) being illegal, without jurisdiction, against the procedure and further based on the illegal sanction/approval under Section 151 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and all proceedings/actions consequent thereto.

(ii) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing the impugned transfer order dated 28.02.2025 passed under Section 127 of the Act by respondent No.3, purporting to transfer the Petitioner’s

1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

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case from Respondent No.2 to Respondent No.4, as the said order is legally unsustainable, incapable of conferring (non-existing) jurisdiction, and stands vitiated due to the invalidity of the foundational notice under Section 148 of the Act.”

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that at this stage, petitioner would not be pressing second prayer in the petition with submissions that the said prayer shall be governed by the consequential impact of the order being passed here-in-after and also with liberty to agitate the same, if anything still survives to be adjudicated, by filing a separate petition/ appeal as per recourse available in law. 4. The subject matter of the challenge contained in prayer (i) of this petition, whereby the legality, validity and propriety of impugned notice under Section 148, dated 25.04.2024 (Annexure P-1) is already under consideration before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in SLP (c) No. 17040/2024, titled as The Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax & Another Vs. M/s Dr. Reddy Laboratories Ltd. with connected matters.

Since the issue involved in this petition is already pending consideration before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, therefore, keeping in view the judicial discipline, we refrain ourselves from giving our opinion with respect to impugned notice under Section 148, dated 25.04.2024 (Annexure P-1), as assailed in this petition. We direct that the present petition shall be governed by the judgment passed

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by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the decision thereto, shall be binding on this case also.

The continuity of proceedings before the competent authority, in view of the pendency of the matter before the Hon’ble Supreme Court is bound to lead to multiplicity of litigation. Therefore, we deem it appropriate to stay such proceedings till the time issue is finally decided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Ordered accordingly.

The petition is disposed of in above terms, so also the pending application(s), if any.

(Vivek Singh Thakur) Judge

(Romesh Verma) Judge

December 02, 2025

(Nisha)