Bombay High Court restrains I-T department from taking coercive action against Anil Ambani

Mumbai: In a relief for industrialist Anil Ambani, the Bombay High Court on Friday restrained the Income Tax department from taking any coercive action against him.

A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale granted the relief to Ambani in the fresh IT notice, which sought to prosecute him under the Black Money Act (BMA), and extended relief in the earlier notice till April 23.

The HC was hearing a plea filed by Ambani challenging the income tax proceedings initiated against him last year seeking to prosecute him under the BMA.

HC rapped I-T dept on criminalising BMA with retrospective effect

The court, on January 9, had questioned the income tax authorities on how it could criminalise a certain act with retrospective effect. It had also issued a notice to the Attorney General of India as the plea challenged the constitutional validity of certain sections of the BMA.

Ambani issued another I-T notice: Counsel

During the hearing on Friday, Ambani’s counsel Rafiq Dada informed the court that pending hearing in the petition, the IT department has issued another notice seeking to prosecute him under the Black Money Act. He sought permission from the court to file a fresh affidavit placing on record the fresh notice.

I-T dept restrained from taking coercive action against Ambani last year

On September 26 last year, the HC had restrained the IT department from taking any coercive action against Ambani on his plea challenging the proposed action to be initiated by the department.

Anil Ambani was issued notice for allegedly ending Rs 420 crore in taxes

The IT department had issued a showcause notice to Ambani on Aug 8, 2022, for allegedly evading Rs 420 crore in taxes on undisclosed funds amounting to Rs 814 crore held in two Swiss bank accounts. It had charged Ambani with "wilful" evasion of tax, saying he "intentionally" did not disclose his foreign bank account details and financial interests to income tax authorities.

The industrialist's plea said that the alleged transactions relate to assessment years 2006-07 and 2010-11 whereas the law was enacted in 2015 and has no retrospective effect.