Raj Kumar Jain (HUF) and Others vs Designated Authority as Commissioner of Income Tax and Another

N.K. Sodhi, J.—This order will dispose of four Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 3842, 3847, 3849 and 3886 of 2003 in which common questions of law and fact arise. For the sake of convenience, the facts are being taken from C. W. P. No. 3842 of 2003 in which arguments were addressed.

The petitioner before us is a Hindu undivided family of which Mr. Raj Kumar Jain is the karta. It filed a declaration before the competent authority under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998. On receipt of this declaration, the Commissioner of Income Tax, Rohtak, sent a certificate of intimation u/s 90(1) of the Finance (No. 2) Act of 1998, determining the amount of tax payable by the petitioner. This certificate of intimation was sent on February 16, 1999. The petitioner made a representation challenging the correctness of the calculations made by the Department. The Commissioner of Income Tax by his letter dated March 9, 1999 (annexure P2 with the writ petition), informed the petitioner that the calculations made by the Department were correct and that no change was required therein. It is against the certificate of intimation dated February 16, 1999, and the communication dated March 9, 1999, that the present petition has been filed under article 226 of the Constitution.

We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and are of the view that the writ petition is highly belated. Admittedly, the certificate of intimation was sent to the petitioner on February 16, 1999, intimating the amount of tax payable by it. If the petitioner felt aggrieved by the same, it should have challenged the certificate of intimation within reasonable time. No explanation much less satisfactory has been furnished for this inordinate delay. All that is contended by learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner kept making representations to the Department. This, in our opinion, does not explain the delay in approaching the court. Consequently, the writ petitions are dismissed on the ground of laches.