Plea to declare I-T searches illegal dismissed

Chennai: Madras high court has dismissed a plea to declare searches conducted on the premises of Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd by income tax officials in December last year and summons issued to its director Ravi Viswanathan, as illegal.

Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, before whom a petition filed by Ravi Viswanathan came up for hearing, has dismissed the petition. “If the prayer sought for is to be considered, it would result in interdicting an investigation process. What the petitioner seeks to indirectly achieve is to injunct the summons, which cannot be done, that too in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. The plea of malafides has not been specifically pleaded or established,” the judge said.

Viswanathan sought to declare the entire survey conducted by the income tax department officials on December 1 and 2, 2015 on the business premises of the company and residences of its directors and the summons as illegal.

He also sought direction to declare the summons issued under Section 131 of the Income Tax Act as illegal and without jurisdiction. The officials had raided the residences of directors of company -R Balachandran, Vishakh Rao, S. Mohan, M Rajesh, CBN Reddy and S. Bhaskararaman.

“It is evident that till date the investigation is yet to be completed and their statements are yet to be used against any persons much less the company. In the light of the above, this court is of the view that the prayer sought for cannot be granted, as it would amount to interference of an investigation and injuncting a summon procedure,’’ the judge said.

Dismissing the petition, the judge said therefore, acceding to the prayer sought for by the petitioner would definitely hamper the investigation.