NDTV promoters challenge final order in reassessment proceedings, Delhi HC seeks response from I-T department

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Income Tax (I-T) department not to pass a final order in the reassessment proceedings initiated by it for a second time against two promoters of NDTV for assessment years 2009-10.[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of co-founder and executive co-chairperson of NDTV Prannoy Roy. PTI[/caption]A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Prathiba M Singh, while restraining the tax department from passing a final order, also issued a notice to it seeking its response to a plea of Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy who have challenged the re-assessment proceedings against them.In their plea, they have claimed that the I-T department had sent them an undated notice regarding initiation of the reassessment proceedings for a second time.The first round of reassessment was initiated in July 2011 and had culminated in March 2013, their plea has said.During the hearing, the court asked the I-T department how it was sending undated notices and, in such circumstances, what would be the proof that the notice left its office on the date it claims to have sent it.The bench disagreed with the tax department's claim that the dispatch register would be a proof, saying it was an internal document of the authority.In February last year, the court had passed a similar stay order on the plea of RRPR Holdings, a promoter company of NDTV, which had challenged the reassessment proceedings initiated against it by the tax authority.All the matters have been listed for further hearing on 17 January next year.