SC quashes I-T department notice to NDTV

nNEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday quashed a 2015 notice by the income tax (I-T) department to initiate reassessment proceedings against media company NDTV in relation to its income for the financial year 2007-08.

A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta ruled that though there were sufficient reasons for the I-T department to believe that undisclosed income of NDTV had escaped assessment, the media company had disclosed all primary facts during the assessment in 2008-09 and, consequently, the department’s claim for reassessment was time barred.

“The assessee, in our view had disclosed all the facts it was bound to disclose. If the revenue wanted to investigate the matter further at that stage it could have easily directed the assessee to furnish more facts,” the top court ruled, overturning an August 2017 ruling of the Delhi high court in this regard which had also allowed provisional attachment of the assets of the media company.

“The Supreme Court has today ruled in favour of NDTV in a tax case which baselessly accused the company of moneylaundering while raising funds abroad in 2007 for its non-news businesses. The Supreme Court has proved that the rule of law prevails above all else,” NDTV said in a statement published on its website.

A spokesperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) declined comment.

The finance ministry has decided to issue a fresh notice in the tax re-assessment case, saying the Supreme Court judgment allowed the revenue department to do so if it is “to rely upon the second proviso and wanted to urge that the limitation of 16 years would apply”.