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A.A. Enterprises v. The Union of India

Patna HC9 Sept 2024CWJC/6439/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

CWJC No.6439 of 2023, Patna High Court, decided 09-09-2024 (K. Vinod Chandran, CJ; Partha Sarthy, J). Keywords: duplicate PAN AAIFA8443R; A.A. Enterprises v. Union of India and Income Tax authorities; AAN Enterprises Chennai identical PAN; refund claims 2008-09 to 2011-12; condonation of delay section 119(2)(a) and (b); Board to condone delay; Assessing Officer to facilitate filing; statutory interest on refund; writ petition disposed of with directions.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition disposed of with directions: petitioner to apply online for condonation of delay under section 119(2)(a) and (b) to file returns and refund applications for the relevant years; Board to necessarily condone the delay (duplicate PAN being the department's mistake); Assessing Officer to facilitate filing; statutory interest payable to the petitioner on refund.

A.A. Enterprises Vs The Union of India — Patna HC (2024) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner's refund claims for the years 2008-09 to 2011-12, unprocessable solely because the same PAN was allotted to more than one assessee, should be released to the petitioner. +1 more

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Court's answer

On refund, the petitioner is necessarily entitled to statutory interest.

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Ratio / Principle

To resolve the stalemate, the petitioner is directed to apply for condonation of delay under section 119(2)(a) and (b), online, so as to file returns and applications for refund for the relevant years.

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Key takeaways

The delay has to be necessarily condoned by the Board, since the allotment of the same PAN number to different assessees was a mistake committed by the department.ratio¶27
The petitioner shall approach the Assessing Officer, who shall facilitate the filing of the condonation and refund applications.ratio¶27

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Duplicate PAN blocking tax refund - Patna High Court directs condonation route. Petitioner A.A. Enterprises was allotted PAN-AAIFA8443R in 2003; the counter affidavit admitted that the very same PAN was also allotted to AAN Enterprises, Chennai. AAN Enterprises obtained its refund online while the system rejected the petitioner's online returns; the petitioner's physical returns carried refund claims for 2008-09 to 2011-12 which could not be processed lest the refund go to the identical-PAN assessee. A new PAN was allotted in 2010 and online returns run from assessment year 2012-13. Holding (oral order, per K. Vinod Chandran, CJ): the petitioner must apply online for condonation of delay under section 119(2)(a) and (b); the Board must necessarily condone the delay since the duplicate PAN was the department's own mistake; the Assessing Officer shall facilitate the filings; and statutory interest is necessarily payable to the petitioner on refund. Writ petition disposed of with these directions.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.6439 of 2023

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A.A. Enterprises Upper of Kriti Alankar Shyam Nandan Sahay Road, Hoda Building, Chhata Chowk, Muzaffarpur-842001, through its one of the PartnerTanzeem Uddin Abdullah, aged about 35 years old, male, S/o Jafruddin Abdullah, resident of Ward No.2, Dharmpur, Distt-Samastipur-848101.

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... ... Petitioner/s

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Versus

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The Union of India through the Secretary, Department of Finance, India, New Delhi.

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The Principal Directorate General of Income Tax, New Delhi.

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The Director General of Income Tax, New Delhi.

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The Chief Commissioner Income Tax, Bihar, Patna.

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The Additional Commissioner, Income Tax, Patna.

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The Joint Commissioner, Income Tax, Patna.

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The Assistant Commissioner, Income Tax, Muzaffarpur.

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The Income Tax Officer Ward 4(1) Patna.

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The Income Tax Officer Muzaffarpur.

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... ... Respondent/s

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Appearance :

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For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Prabhakar Singh, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mrs. Archana Shahi, Advocate

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CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE and

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HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PARTHA SARTHY ORAL ORDER

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(Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)

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12 09-09-2024 We have a unique situation where the refund was declined only by reason of the same PAN number being allotted to more than one assessee. The petitioner herein; AA Enterprises, was allotted the number PAN-AAIFA8443R in the year 2003. It is admitted in the counter affidavit that one AAN Enterprises, Chennai was also allotted the very same PAN

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Patna High Court CWJC No.6439 of 2023(12) dt.09-09-2024 2/3

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number along with another assessee. AAN Enterprises, Chennai has filed a return and obtained refund; both having been done online. The petitioner could not file his online returns since the system refused to accept it. The petitioner had however filed physical returns and there was also a claim of refund for the years 2008-09 to 2011-12.

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Learned Senior counsel for the department points out that now the refund application cannot be processed, only because any proceedings taken would end up in the refund being granted to AAN Enterprises, Chennai who has an identical PAN number. As of now a new Pan number has been allotted to the petitioner in the year 2010. From the assessment year 2012-13 petitioner has also been submitting online returns.

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In the above circumstances, to have a resolution of the stalemate, we direct the petitioner to apply for condonation of delay under section 119(2)(a) and (b); online so as to file returns and file applications for refund for the relevant years. We make it clear that the delay has to be necessarily condoned by the Board since the same PAN number being allotted to the different assessee was a mistake committed by the department. The petitioner shall approach the Assessing Officer who shall facilitate the filing of the aforesaid applications as requested by

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Patna High Court CWJC No.6439 of 2023(12) dt.09-09-2024 3/3

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the writ petitioner. On refund, necessarily the statutory interest shall be entitled to the petitioner.

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