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SC allows NDTV's plea against notice for not disclosing crores of money from foreign companies

The court held that the I-T department has not adopted "fair or proper procedure"
Last Updated 03 April 2020, 16:06 IST

In a relief to NDTV, the Supreme Court on Friday quashed the Income Tax notice issued to the organisation, saying the statutory authority did not give fair opportunity to the company.

However, a bench presided over by Justice L Nageswara Rao said the I-T department can pursue the case by adopting proper procedure and giving fair opportunity to the petitioner.

The court allowed NDTV's appeal against the 2015 notice by the Income Tax department for allegedly not disclosing hundreds of crore received through its subsidiaries overseas.

The bench, also comprising Justice Deepak Gupta, however, made it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on facts of the case and the I-T department may issue fresh notice, if permissible under the law.

The court held that the I-T department has not adopted "fair or proper procedure" as the TV channel was "deprived of the fair chance" and "a proper and adequate opportunity" to reply to the notice under the law.

It said the notice having been issued without conforming to the "principle of natural justice" was required to be quashed.

The top court allowed the plea by the TV channel against the Delhi High Court's judgement of August 10, 2017 that had dismissed its writ petition against the notice for reassessment.

On March 31, 2015, the revenue department sent a notice to the assesse, stating net income chargeable to tax for the assessment year 2008¬-09 had escaped assessment under the Income Tax Act. It had proposed an addition of Rs 642 crores to the assessee's account for money through its subsidiaries NDTV BV, The Netherlands, NDTV Networks BV, The Netherlands (NNBV), NDTV Networks International Holdings BV, The Netherlands (NNIH) and NNPLC.

The NDTV raised its objection before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) which, however, concluded that all these transactions with the subsidiary companies in Netherlands were sham and bogus transactions. It also found that these transactions were done with a view to get the undisclosed income, for which tax had not been paid, back to India by a circuitous round tripping.

The judgement, authored by Justice Gupta, however, held the NDTV was not guilty of non- disclosure of material facts.

"The uncontroverted fact is that in the notice of March 31, 2015 there is no mention of any foreign entity,' it said.

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(Published 03 April 2020, 16:06 IST)

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