- 1 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 28TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2025 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO. 20239 OF 2025 (T-IT) BETWEEN: MADHUKAR MOHIT KHARE, AGED ABOUT 56 YEARS, SON OF SRI MAHENDRA KUMAR KHARE, RESIDING AT 20 DECANSO DRIVE, UNIT 1266, SAN JOSE, CA – 95134, USA INDIAN ADDRESS: 4-C SUKHI APARTMENTS, NO.17 RHENIUS STREET, LANGFORD TOWN, NANJAPPA CIRCLE, BENGALURU – 560 025 PREVIOUSLY AT C-107, MAPLE BLOCK RAHEJA RESIDENCY, 3RD BLOCK, 7TH CROSS, KORAMANGALA, BENGALURU – 560 034 REPRESENTED BY HIS SPA HOLDER, SRI VISHAY RAWAR, AGED ABOUT 48 YEARS, SON OF LATE SRI M P RAWAR NO.4C, SUHI APARTMENTS, #17, RHENIUS STREET, LANGFORD TOWN, NANJAPPA CIRCLE, BENGALURU – 560 025 …PETITIONER (BY SRI. SHREEHARI KUTSA, ADVOCATE) Digitally signed by CHANDANA B M Location: High Court of Karnataka - 2 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 AND: 1. INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD 4(3)(2), BENGALURU BMTC BUILDING, 80FT ROAD, NEAR KHB GAMES VILLAGE KORAMANGALA, BENGALURU – 560 095 2. PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX BENGALURU-2, BENGALURU THE SPECIFIED AUTHORITY UNDER SECTION 151 OF THE INCOME TAX ACT, 1961 BMTC BUILDING, 80FT ROAD, NEAR KHB GAMES VILLAGE, KORAMANGALA, BENGALURU – 560 095 3. NATIONAL FACELESS ASSESSMENT CENTRE (NFAC) A CENTRE DESCRIBED UNDER SECTION 144B OF THE INCOME TAX ACT, 1961 ROOM NO. 401, 2ND FLOOR, E-RAMP, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU STADIUM, DELHI - 110 003 REP. BY PR. CHIEF COMMISSIONER INCOME TAX (NEAC) 4. ASSESSMENT UNIT A UNIT CREATED UNDER SECTION 144B OF THE INCOME TAX ACT, 1961 ROOM NO. 401, 2ND FLOOR, E-RAMP, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU STADIUM, DELHI – 110 003 REP. BY PR. CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (NEAC) 5. INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD INTERNATIONAL TAXATION 1(2), BENGALURU THE JURISDICTIONAL ASSESSING OFFICER, BMTC BUILDING, 80 FEET ROAD, 6TH BLOCK, KORAMANGALA, BENGALURU – 560 095 …RESPONDENTS (BY SRI. E.I. SANMATHI, ADVOCATE FOR R1 TO R5) - 3 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 THIS W.P. IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 & 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO ISSUE A WRIT OF CERTIORARI OR ANY OTHER SUITABLE WRIT FOR QUASHING OF THE DIGITALLY SIGNED AND ELECTRONICALLY COMMUNICATED ENQUIRY U/S 148A(a) OF THE INCOME TAX ACT, 1961 DATED 27/02/2024 ISSUED BY THE RESPONDENT NO. 1 FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2019-20 RELEVANT TO THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2020-21 WHICH BEARS THE DIN AND LETTER NO. ITBA/AST/F/17/2023-24/1061571524(1) AND ENCLOSED AS ANNEXURE-A AND ETC., THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN ‘B’ GROUP, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR ORAL ORDER In this petition, petitioner seeks for the following reliefs:- a. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated enquiry u/s 148A(a) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 27.02.2024 issued by the Respondent No.1 for the Financial Year 2019-20 relevant to the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Letter No. ITBA/AST/F/17/2023- 24/1061571524(1) and enclosed as Annexure-A. b. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated notice u/s 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 16.03.2024 issued by the Respondent No.1 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Letter No. - 4 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 ITBA/AST/F/148A(SCN)/2023-24/1062738246(1) and enclosed as Annexure-B1. c. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated notice u/s 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 18.03.2024 issued by the Respondent No.1 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Letter No. ITBA/AST/F/148A(SCN)/2023-24/1062816366(1) and enclosed as Annexure-B2. d. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated order u/s 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 29.03.2024 issued by the Respondent No.1 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Letter No. ITBA/AST/F/148A/2023-24/1063598188(1) and enclosed as Annexure-C. e. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated notice u/s 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 30.03.2024 issued by the Respondent No.1 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Letter No. ITBA/AST/F/148_1/2023- 24/1063705371(1) and enclosed as Annexure-D. f. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated assessment order under section 147 - 5 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 24.01.2025 passed by the Respondent No.4 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN viz., ITBA/AST/S/147/2024-25/1072519978(1) and enclosed as Annexure-N1. g. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated notice of demand under section 156 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 24.01.2025 issued by the Respondent No.4 for the Assessment Year 2020- 21 which bears the DIN & Notice No. ITBA/AST/S/156/2024-25/1072520044(1) and enclosed as Annexure-N2. h. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated computation sheet dated 24.01.2025 issued by the Respondent No.4 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Document No. ITBA/AST/S/330/2024-25/1072520096(1) and enclosed as Annexure-N3. i. Issue a writ or certiorari or any other suitable writ for quashing of the digitally signed and electronically communicated notice under section 274 r.w.s. 271AAC(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 01.07.2025 issued by the Respondent No.5 for the Assessment Year 2020-21 which bears the DIN & Notice No. ITBA/PNL/F/271AAC(1)/2025- 26/1078093021(1) and enclosed as Annexure-Q. - 6 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 j. Grant such other reliefs as this Hon’ble Court deems fit in this matter including but not limited to COST OF THIS PETITION.” 2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondents and perused the material on record. 3. In addition to reiterating the various contentions urged in the memorandum of petition and referring to the material on record, learned counsel for the petitioner invited my attention to the order of a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Ramachandra Reddy Ravi Kumar Vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax - W.P.No.17352/2022 and connected matters - dated 28.08.2025, in order to contend that the present petition deserves to be allowed and disposed of in terms of the said order. 4. Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents submits that there is no merit in the petition and that the same is liable to be dismissed. 5. As rightly contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner the present petition is directly and squarely covered by the decision of a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Ramachandra Reddy Ravi Kumar Vs. Deputy Commissioner of - 7 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 Income-tax - W.P.No.17352/2022 and connected matters - dated 28.08.2025, the operative portion of which reads as under: "13. I, therefore, pass the following: O R D E R (i) The impugned show cause notices issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer outside the scope of Section 151-A of the Act stand obliterated. All further proceedings initiated thereto, challenged in these cases would stand quashed. (ii) Liberty is reserved to the respondents - revenue to revive all these petitions in the event the Apex Court would hold in favour of the Revenue in the pending before it. (iii) With the aforesaid liberty and to the aforesaid extent, the petitions are allowed. (iv) Contentions of both the parties except the one noted hereinabove, shall remain open to be considered in the event revival of these petitions would become necessary." 6. The aforesaid order is applicable to the facts and circumstances of the instant case and consequently, the present petition also deserves to be disposed of in terms of the judgment of co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Ramachandra Reddy's case (supra). - 8 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43144 WP No. 20239 of 2025 7. In the result, I pass the following: ORDER (i) The petition is allowed and disposed of in terms of the decision of a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Ramachandra Reddy Ravi Kumar Vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax - W.P.No.17352/2022 and connected matters - dated 28.08.2025. (ii) The impugned show cause notices and consequential orders, notices etc., at Annexures-A, B1, B2, C, D, N1, N2, N3 and Q R3 dated 27.02.2024, 16.03.2024, 18.03.2024, 29.03.2024, 30.03.2024, 24.01.2025, 24.01.2025, 24.01.2025 and 01.07.2025 respectively, are hereby quashed. (iii) Liberty is reserved in favour of the respondents - Revenue to seek revival of this petition, subsequent to disposal of the matters pending before the Apex Court and all rival contentions between the parties in this regard are kept open and no opinion is expressed on the same. Sd/- (S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR) JUDGE BMC List No.: 2 Sl No.: 88