Facts of the Case

  • The petitioner, Guardian Industries Corp., approached the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi by filing three separate writ petitions: W.P.(C) No. 14213/2009, W.P.(C) No. 14214/2009, and W.P.(C) No. 14215/2009 against the Deputy Director of Income Tax.
  • During the pendency of these writ petitions before the High Court, the substantive grievances and reliefs claimed by the petitioner were adjudicated upon and successfully granted in their favor by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (Tribunal).

Issues Involved

  • Whether the writ petitions filed under Article 226 before the High Court survive for further adjudication once the underlying grievance/relief has already been granted to the petitioner by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
  • Whether the petitioner should be permitted to unconditionally withdraw the pending writ petitions in light of the subsequent developments and relief obtained.

Petitioner’s Arguments

  • Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, Mr. Ajay Vohra, along with Ms. Kavita Jha and Mr. Somnath Shukla, formally submitted before the bench that the specific relief sought in the instant writ petitions had already been adequately granted by the Tribunal.
  • Consequently, the petitioner prayed for permission from the Hon’ble Court to withdraw all three writ petitions, as further litigation before the High Court had rendered itself academic.

Respondent’s Arguments

  • The Respondent, represented by the Deputy Director of Income Tax through learned counsels Mr. N.P. Sahni and Mr. Ruchesh Sinha, was present before the court.
  • Given that the competent Tribunal had already passed orders granting relief to the petitioner, the respondents offered no objection to the disposal or formal withdrawal of the academic writ petitions.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Hon’ble the Chief Justice and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjiv Khanna, took note of the statement made by the petitioner’s counsel.
  • Finding merit in the submission that the grievance stood resolved by the Tribunal, the High Court formally allowed the petitioner’s request.
  • The Court passed the final order stating: "The writ petitions are permitted to be withdrawn."

Important Clarification

  • This judgment clarifies a vital procedural principle in taxation and writ litigation: if an alternative or parallel statutory appellate authority (such as the ITAT) grants the ultimate relief sought by an assessee during the pendency of a writ petition, the writ petition becomes infructuous, and the petitioner can legitimately seek a formal withdrawal to avoid a multiplicity of proceedings and save judicial time.

Section Involved

  • Article 226 of the Constitution of India (Writ Jurisdiction)
  • Relevant provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (implied via the parties and ITAT relief)

Link to download the order - https://delhihighcourt.nic.in/app/case_number_pdf/2011:DHC:17175/SKN19072011CW142142009_115952.pdf  

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