High Court at Calcutta · Judgments and reasoned final orders
Philips India Limited v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle 11(1), Kolkata & Ors.
W.P.O. No. 500 of 2023 ·
Writ challenge to AY 2017-18 assessment order dated 31.03.2022 under section 143(3)/144B alleging absence of DIN in body of order (CBDT Circular No. 19/2019) and limitation bar (portal upload on 23.01.2023 after TOLA expiry on 21.01.2022): writ petition dismissed as not maintainable due to disputed factual issues and availability of statutory appeal.
1. FACTS OF THE CASE
Philips India Limited filed W.P.O. No. 500 of 2023 challenging the assessment order dated 31.03.2022 passed under section 143(3) read with section 144B for AY 2017-18, demand notice under section 156, and penalty notice under section 274/270A. The petitioner contended that: (a) the order dated 31.03.2022 was passed manually without quoting a DIN in its body in violation of CBDT Circular No. 19/2019; and (b) limitation for AY 2017-18 expired on 21.01.2022 (or 31.03.2022), whereas the order and DIN intimation letter (ITBA/AST/S/91/2022-23/1049039617(1)) were uploaded only on 23.01.2023. The Department contended that systemic ITBA portal glitches following high-court relief on a 197.45 crore downward TP adjustment prevented online generation on 31.03.2022.
2. DISCUSSION BY THE COURT
Reviewing CIT v. Chhabil Dass Agarwal ((2014) 1 SCC 603) and State of Maharashtra v. Greatship (India) Ltd. (2022 SCC OnLine SC 1262), the Single Judge held that the petitioner had directly invoked Article 226 requiring adjudication of disputed facts and mixed questions of fact and law regarding portal glitches, manual generation, and DIN allocation, for which an efficacious alternative appellate remedy existed under the Act.
3. JUDICIAL DECISION
Dismissed W.P.O. No. 500 of 2023 as not maintainable on the ground of alternative remedy, and declined the petitioner's post-delivery prayer for stay of operation of the order.
4. OUTCOME
Revenue (on maintainability / alternative remedy) - W.P.O. No. 500 of 2023 dismissed as not maintainable in view of efficacious statutory appellate remedy; post-judgment prayer for stay refused.
5. AKHB REVIEW POINT
AKHB analysis: where the Revenue pleads ITBA portal/technical impossibility as an exception under paragraph 3 of CBDT Circular No. 19/2019 to explain manual passing of an assessment order and later DIN generation, writ courts may decline Article 226 intervention and direct the assessee to agitate the DIN and limitation issues in a section 246A appeal.
Source and verification
20-page official High Court at Calcutta judgment PDF (20250312_WBCHCO0012112023.pdf).
Original PDF: 20 pages · SHA-256: 3b2bb38bc54f055080e83c6abbca46a23c7bf482be950b39175611172ddbad29
Supplied source-reviewed note retained; original bytes and identity validation checked in this release. Substantive re-review is not claimed for this record.
Applies sections 143(3), 144B, 153 and 246A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and CBDT Circular No. 19/2019 for AY 2017-18. Income-tax Act, 2025 equivalence is not verified.
Full primary judgment PDF read page-by-page and verified against the AKHB Google Drive repository. Comprehensive subsequent judicial treatment has not been independently verified.
AI disclosure and professional disclaimer
AI-assisted source review. Independent human approval is not represented.
General research only. Read the complete judgment and verify applicable law and subsequent treatment before reliance.