Whether weekends can be counted for the purpose of period for which notice is given?
The Bombay high court in the case of Indian Education Society Vs ACIT was dealing with a notice u/s 148A(b) which was issued on 11th March 2022(being Friday) and compliance was required by 21st March 2022 which meant there were two Saturday and Sundays in between and thus the effective time that was granted was only 6 days. On these facts the notice was quashed for giving sufficient time in accordance with principles of natural justice and pass order u/s 148A(d) in accordance with law.
There are several decisions of Calcutta high court also where the Court has held that the weekends and holidays in between have to be reduced while taking into account the time given for compliance.
The copy of the order is as under:
