The Bombay high court directed I-T authorities to refund Vodafone Idea £112.8 million paid in taxes in 2016-17, holding an assessment order against the telecom major “unsustainable and time-barred”.
On August 31, 2023, an assessing officer passed an order against Vodafone Idea, two years after a dispute resolution panel (DRP) issued directions to the company. The order was issued under the faceless assessment system, which seeks to eliminate the human interface between taxpayers and the I-T department. Vodafone Idea had contested that the assessing officer failed to pass the final order in the prescribed period.
A division bench of Justices K R Shriram and Neela Gokhale also recommended an inquiry against the assessing officer for “failure to abide by the legal mandate and the lack of diligence on the part of officials concerned. Strict action should be taken against persons responsible for the laxity and lethargy displayed which has caused a huge loss to the exchequer and, in turn, to citizens of this country,” said the judgment, directing that a copy of the order be given to CBDT and principal secretary of the Union finance ministry.