Kerala High Court admits petitions challenging Income Tax Act

Kerala High Court admits petitions challenging Income Tax Act

Faceless Assessment Procedure being considered arbitrary and violative

The Kerala High Court has admitted a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Faceless Assessment Procedure (FAP) under Section 144B of the Income Tax (IT) Act

Several petitioners, including Mohamed Babu Paramboor of Malappuram (a city in the state of Kerala), stated that the procedure provided under the IT Act was patently arbitrary and violated the Constitution of India.

The petitioners maintained that fetters were placed on the right of personal hearing, thus, making the assessment procedure violative of the principles of natural justice and making the Section, manifestly arbitrary.

The norm of the law was that whenever an order having a civil consequence was passed against any person, they were to be given an opportunity of being heard. The petitioners contended that the assessments made against them were invalid, as they were not given an opportunity of being heard.

Thereafter, the court stayed all further proceedings pursuant to the assessments made against the petitioners.