High Court Rebukes Anil Ambani Over 'Artificial Urgency' in Tax Notice Case

The Bombay High Court fined industrialist Anil Ambani Rs 25,000 for urgently challenging a tax notice, deeming it 'artificial urgency.' The court dismissed the urgency plea, imposing a payment obligation to Tata Memorial Hospital. Ambani withdrew the petition after the tax order was issued.

The Bombay High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on industrialist Anil Ambani for seeking an urgent hearing on his petition against a notice issued by the Income Tax department in 2022. The court deemed the urgency as 'artificial' and ruled against the application.

A division bench comprising Justices M S Sonak and Jitendra Jain remarked that invoking the facility for an urgent hearing based on such created urgencies was inappropriate. The bench noted the petition was challenging only a show cause notice and dismissed the urgent plea. A fine was set to be paid to Tata Memorial Hospital within two weeks.

Ambani's counsel informed the court that the tax department had already passed its order for the assessed year on March 27, prompting the withdrawal of the petition. Subsequently, the court accepted the withdrawal and confirmed that the imposed cost had been deposited.

(With inputs from agencies.)