In a major relief for Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the founders of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV), the Delhi High Court has set aside the income tax reassessment notices relating to a financial transaction involving RRPR Holdings Pvt. Ltd, according to a report from the Live Law.
A two-member Divisional Bench consisting of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar ruled that the Income Tax Department’s attempt was improper as the same transactions had already been examined in an earlier assessment cycle. The bench imposed a fine of 2 lakh on the Income Tax Department, directing it to pay 1 lakh each to Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the petitioners in the case.
In July 2011, the I-T department issued reassessment notices to the founders of NDTV for the assessment year 2009-10 to re-examine the interest-free loans advanced to RRPR Holding Pvt. Ltd. Based on this, a reassessment order was passed in March 2013 settling the case.
However, in March 2016, the Income Tax department issued notices for reassessing the same case for the same assessment year again. This was challenged in Delhi High Court by the Roys in November 2017 on the ground that reopening assessments on identical issues amounted to an impermissible ‘change in opinion’ under the Income Tax Act.
