SC refuses to entertain plea of environmental lawyer against HC verdict on I-T assessment
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain the plea of well-known environmental lawyer Ritwik Dutta against a Delhi High Court order dismissing his petition against reopening of his income tax assessment for the year 2020-21.
The Delhi High Court had on May 29, 2024 dismissed Dutta's plea and upheld an order under section 148A(d) of the Income Tax (IT) Act. Under section 148 of the I-T Act, the Assessing Officer (AO) is empowered to reassess tax returns if income has been reported inaccurately.
Under section 148A of the I-T Act, if the IT officer has information that the taxpayer has undisclosed income for a specific assessment year, he must give the taxpayer a chance to provide an explanation before issuing a notice.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the I-T department, said Dutta, an advocate, is the managing trustee of ‘Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment’ (LIFE), and on September 7, 2022, a survey action was undertaken by the I-T authorities under section 133A of the Act.
Section 133A of the I-T Act authorises the department officials to enter and inspect any premises if they have reasons to believe that documents, books, accounts or other material relevant to any proceeding under the Act may be found there. They can also seize any such documents if they find them during the inspection.
The I-T department said, on a perusal of the survey report and the impounded material, it was gathered that an amount of Rs 4.95 crore was received in assessment year 2020-21 by his organisation from M/s EarthJustice, USA.
"During the course of survey proceedings, it was observed that the assessee was earlier running a proprietorship concern in the name of M/s Lawyers Initiative for Forest & Environment (LIFE) in which he had received Rs 22 crores of professional receipts from one M/s EarthJustice, USA during the preceding five years," the IT department said.
"This proprietorship was later converted into an LLP (Limited Liability Partnership).
"It was further found that funds made available by ‘Earth Justice’ are apparently being used for objects other than the approved objects of ‘LIFE’ for activities such as for litigation against coal power plants in India routed through the Petitioner/assessee who is the managing trustee of the Trust ‘LIFE’ in the garb of professional fee, for activities which cannot be considered to be professional service rendered by the assessee to ‘Earth Justice’,” the department said.
The solicitor general said in spite of the claim that the amount over Rs 4.95 crore was received as professional fee by Dutta, Earth Justice is not a party to any of the cases being represented by him.
The law officer said the assessing officer (AO) of the IT department issued an order on April 4, 2024 for reopening the assessment in the case of Dutta for 2020-21.
"All that the High Court has done in the impugned judgment is that it has refused to interfere with proceedings at this stage and has left it open for the assessee (Dutta) to raise all its contentions before the statutory authorities," it said.
The top court refused to entertain the plea at this stage.
Earlier in April last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR against Dutta for alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
The action was taken in response to a complaint from the Union home ministry alleging that LIFE was receiving funds from the US-based EarthJustice to litigate against Indian coal projects with the intention of "targeting and stalling them", a practice that the ministry deemed a "violation of FCRA".
The criminal complaint was part of the CBI FIR naming Dutta, the winner of many awards including Sweden's alternative to the Nobel Prize called the Right Livelihood Award for 2021 for his effort to protect the environment in India through the use of law.
The complaint alleged that LIFE had received money from Earth Justice USA, disguised as "professional receipts", which were actually intended to fund the targeting and stalling of development projects.
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Shivakumar’s CM aspiration natural, high command will decide: Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Saturday that Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, as the state Congress president, naturally aspires to become chief minister. However, he added that the final decision rests with the party's high command.
Amid ongoing speculation about a leadership change within the ruling Congress, he wished Shivakumar "good luck".
"I have always wished him so. There is nothing else; we are good friends. He is the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) president, and naturally, he has an aspiration to become the chief minister. Nobody can object to it. But it all depends on what the high command decides,” Parameshwara said in response to a question regarding Shivakumar’s aspiration for the CM post.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “Don’t always go back to the CM issue. Please understand there is nothing that I can tell you about it. If I were part of the decision-making body or inside the decision-making body, I could definitely provide information.”
Supporters of Shivakumar have been insisting on his elevation in line with a reported power-sharing agreement with chief minister Siddaramaiah when the party won the 2023 Assembly elections. Some have even claimed that "sweet news" is expected by May 15, which is Shivakumar’s birthday.
Speculation has been circulating within the Congress and political circles about a possible leadership change and cabinet reshuffle after May 4, once the results of the Assembly elections in four states and one union territory, along with bypolls to two Assembly segments in Karnataka, are announced.
However, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday that there is no CM change in Karnataka "for now" and that the leadership issue in the state will be resolved soon.
On Friday, he said no date has been fixed yet to discuss a possible leadership change, while maintaining that any decision in this regard would be taken collectively by the party high command after due consultation.
Meanwhile, Parameshwara met senior Congress leader and MLC B K Hariprasad and Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan over dinner on Friday. Hariprasad had met Siddaramaiah earlier in the day.
Responding to a question about discussions at the dinner, as his name is also being mentioned for the chief minister post amid calls for a "Dalit CM", the home minister said there was no discussion about the chief minister issue.
“Hariprasad told me that he met the CM, but he did not disclose what was discussed between them. Hariprasad, Zameer Ahmed Khan, and I met over dinner, and we discussed the elections held in four states and one union territory. We analysed the national-level political situation and naturally discussed the state’s political developments,” he said.
When asked if he would travel to New Delhi to meet the party high command, Parameshwara said, “I will definitely go to Delhi. Nobody can stop me from going there. I will go when it is required.”
