- (1.) The assessee challenges an order under section 127(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, transferring the assessee's account to a different jurisdiction. The two grounds canvassed are that the expression "opportunity of being heard in the matter" appearing in the relevant provision implies a personal hearing before the officer makes a final order; and that the Commissioner who passed the relevant order relied on material that was not disclosed in the show-cause notice and, thereby, acted in breach of the principles of natural justice.
(2.) The show-cause notice of January 9, 2014, called upon the first petitioner to present its objections to the proposed transfer of the account from Kolkata to the Kanpur Central region. The notice informed the first petitioner that a search and seizure operation under section 132 of the Act had been carried out on the Tirubala group of concerns on November 24, 2011, by the Investigation Wing of the Income-tax Department, Kolkata, which revealed that the petitioner company was related to the group and had transactions with other entities of the group and shared common directors.
(3.) The notice expressed the tentative opinion that the transfer of the petitioner's account to Kanpur was necessary for a co-ordinated investigation.;