JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the records in the Demand / Show Cause notice in DIN & Notice No.ITBA/RCV/S/221/2021-22/1034797134(1) dated 11.08.2021 issued by the fourth respondent and quash the same and further direct the first respondent to dispose of the appeal filed by the petitioner challenging the order of assessment dated 13.04.2021 made by the third respondent for the Assessment Year 2018-19 within a time to be fixed by this Court.)

1. The prayer sought for herein is for a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the records in the Demand / Show Cause notice in DIN & Notice No.ITBA/RCV/S/221/2021-22/1034797134(1) dated 11.08.2021 issued by the fourth respondent and quash the same and further direct the first respondent to dispose of the appeal filed by the petitioner challenging the order of assessment dated 13.04.2021 made by the third respondent for the Assessment Year 2018-19.

2. The petitioner is a Society, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1975 and also under the Income Tax Act, 1961, [in short, 'the Act']. The petitioner is an assessee on the file of the third respondent in PAN No.AAATA95470H. The petitioner Society was originally established in the year 1982, with a primary object of establishing and managing Schools, Colleges, Educational Institutions in different fields. However, subsequently, there has been an amendment in the articles of the association of the Society on 09.12.1998, whereby, Clause 3 Item 1 of the memorandum of association has been amended, to provide education to all communities in general and to promote the interests of the Muslim minority in particular.

3. With that background, when assessment order was passed for the assessment year 2018-19, by the third respondent, the assessing officer has stated that, the petitioner, claiming to be a charitable Society or Trust or Institution, can no more enjoy the benefit under Sections 11 or 12 of the Act, in view of the provisions namely Section 13 of the Act, under which, if any part of the income from the property held under a Trust for private religious purposes, which does not enure for the benefit of public, would not be excluded from taxable income as provided under Sections 11 and 12 of the Act and therefore, in that context, it is the stand of the revenue that the petitioner would not be entitled to get any such benefit under Sections 11 and 12 of the Act and accordingly, the assessment has been completed and assessment order was passed on 13.04.2021.

4. Felt aggrieved over the said stand taken by the revenue in working an assessment for the assessment year 2018-19 dated 13.04.2021, an appeal had been preferred under Section 246-A of the Act, originally to the Commissioner of Appeals, which stood transferred to the first respondent ie., The National Faceless Appeal Centre, Income Tax Department, New Delhi, where the petitioner's appeal dated 29.04.2021 is pending.

5. Though the said appeal has been pending before the first respondent, the fourth respondent, by show cause notice dated 11.08.2021, has directed the petitioner to show cause as to why a penalty should not be levied under Section 221(1) of the Act, and in this regard, the petitioner was directed to show cause on or before 18.08.2021.

6. Felt aggrieved over the said notice issued under Section 221(1) of the Act, dated 11.08.2021, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition.

7. Canvassing the point to assail the said impugned notice, Mr. N. Ramakrishnan, learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner / assessee has submitted that, the petitioner is an Educational and Welfare Society and it is a charitable institution. Therefore, it is entitled to get exemptions or benefits whatever available under Sections 11 and 12 of the Act and that benefit has been continuously given. However, all of a sudden in the assessment made in the assessment year 2018-19,