The orders under section 24(4) of the Benami Property Transactions Act are provisional and subject to judicial review before the adjudicating authority.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: W.A. No. 1598 of 2018:- Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent against the Order dated 02.07.2018 passed in WP No. 12848 of 2018 on the file of this Court.

W.A. No. 1599 of 2018:- Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent against the Order dated 02.07.2018 passed in WP No. 13160 of 2018 on the file of this Court.

W.A. No. 1600 of 2018:- Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent against the Order dated 02.07.2018 passed in WP No. 13161 of 2018 on the file of this Court.

Common Judgment: R. Mahadevan, J.

These three intra-court appeals arise from a common order dated 02.07.2018 passed by the learned Judge in WP.Nos.12848, 13160 and 13160 of 2018.

2. The appellant herein is the petitioner in all the aforesaid writ petitions and the case projected by him would run thus:

2.1. The appellant is an individual engaged in the business of steel and power and he is the Managing Director of M/s.Surana Industries Ltd & M/s.Surana Power Ltd. He is an assessee on the file of the ACIT, Central Circle - 2(3), Chennai, in PAN No.AACPS3233K and has been regularly filing his return of income within the prescribed time.

2.2. While so, based on certain credible information, a search operation under section 132 of The Income Tax Act, 1961, (in short, “the Act“) was conducted in the premises of M/s.Surana Corporation Limited and in his residence between 07.11.2017 and 11.11.2017 as per the instructions given by the Deputy Director of Income Tax (Investigation Wing). During the course of the same, several sworn statements were recorded, besides impounding documents at the time of inspection. According to the appellant, he is only a shareholder in M/s.Surana Corporation Limited and is not holding any position in the said company.

2.3. Subsequent to the search operation, the first respondent in WP.No.12848 of 2018 / respondent in other two writ petitions viz., Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Benami Prohibition) issued show cause notices dated 26.02.2018, which were served on the appellant on 01.03.2018, alleging that the appellant is the beneficial owner of the assets in the nature of wind mills acquired by M/s. Bell Tower Enterprises LLP. It was further stated in the said show cause notices that a survey under section 133A of the Act was conducted in the premises of M/s.Sayso Exim Pvt Ltd., at No.56A/1, Pillayar Koil Street, Tondiarpet, Chennai - 600 081 on 09.03.2017, during which, certain documents were impounded and the statement of Mr. I. Prabhakaran, Director of M/s. Sayso Exim Private Limited and Mr. Vishnu Sharma and Mr. Purushothaman, Directors of M/s. Vinayaga Infra Pvt Ltd., were also recorded; and on the basis of the statements recorded from the said persons, the department proceeded to issue the said show cause notices.

2.4. Upon receipt of the show cause notices, the appellant sent a reply dated 12.03.2018 and sought for copies of the complete set of documents, which are morefully relied on in the show cause notices dated 26.02.2018. However, he was not given the complete set of documents as required, but only certain copies of the documents. He again requested the respondent to furnish the remaining documents so as to enable him to submit the detailed written submission to the show cause notices, by letter dated 23.03.2018, which was not considered.

2.5. Thereafter, on 09.04.2018, without complete set of documents, the appellant filed a preliminary written submission to the show cause notices dated 26.02.2018. While so, the respondent sent a communication dated 14.05.2018, stating that the department had received additional information from the Deputy Director of Income Tax (Investigation Wing) with respect to the offences committed under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (in short, “PBPT Act“) and hence, calling upon the appellant to submit his reply on or before 21.05.2018. In response, the appe