The Bombay High Court on Monday gives relief to Anil Ambani and Reliance (ADA) Group in a Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 proceeding and directed Income-Tax department not to take any action till February 20.
A division bench of Justice GS Patel and Justice SG Dige was hearing Ambani’s plea against the IT order over the allegation that the Reliance (ADA) Group evaded Rs 420 crore taxes on Rs 814 crore held in two Swiss Bank accounts.
The court issued a notice to Attorney General R Venkataramani on the constitutional validity of Sections 3(1), 50, 51, 59, and 72C of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
How the action can be taken in a retrospective manner against the petitioner, Division Bench questioned the I-T Department.
Justice Patel remarked:
“A person behaves in a certain manner when you criminalise it with retrospective effect. How does a person conduct himself? How can the Act have a retrospective effect? The person has been behaving or conducting himself in a certain manner. You (IT Department) say henceforth you cannot do it, that is fine. That you hold it is criminal, is also fine. But you’ve to say from what time period it comes from.”
Justice Patel cited an example:
“Suppose I am claiming a deduction in my expenditure on books… You come back and say that I claimed deduction on books outside the jurisdiction and plus held it criminal. You are saying that I should have known what the government was going to do 10 years ago. This is the most simple and absurd example.”
The bench issued a notice to the AG to respond to the challenge to the vires of the 2015 law and posted next hearing to February 20 and asked Ambani to file a rejoinder to the reply in the affidavit by the I-T Department.
“Until the next date of hearing the interim order as passed on September 26, 2022, continues,” the bench noted and continued interim relief to the petitioner.
