Law:

Section:

JUDGMENT 1. As these writ petitions involve a common issue, they are taken up together for consideration and disposed by this common judgment. 2. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Central), Cochin is the petitioner in all the writ petitions, which impugn the common order dated 05.08.2013 of the Income Tax Settlement Commission, Chennai (hereinafter referred to as the 'Settlement Commission'), accepting the settlement applications preferred by (i) Sri.P.A.Jose, (ii) Smt.P.P.Alphonsa, (iii) Josco Gold Corporation Pvt. Ltd. and (iv) Josco Jewellers (P) Limited (hereinafter referred to as the 'assessees'), and granting the said applicants immunity from penalty and prosecution under the Income Tax Act. 3. The brief facts, that are necessary for a disposal of the writ petitions, are as follows; "Pursuant to a search conducted by the Income Tax authorities, between 21.03.2012 and 20.07.2012, in the premises of the assessees, notices under Section 153A of the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the 'IT Act'), were issued to them on 29.11.2012. The assessees are stated to have filed returns of income, for the period covered by the notices issued to them, on 15.03.2013, by declaring the same income as was originally returned by them in the course of regular assessment. Immediately thereafter, on 19.03.2013, the assessees preferred applications before the Settlement Commission offering additional income for the purposes of settlement. The application was allowed to be proceeded with by the Settlement Commission, by an order dated 28.03.2013 passed under Section 245D (1) of the Act. Thereafter, a report was called for from the Commissioner of Income Tax. The Settlement Commission then called for reports in terms of Rule 9 of the Settlement Commission Procedure Rules on 17.05.2013. Pursuant to this, the Commissioner of Income Tax is stated to have filed reports on 20.06.2013, 15.07.2013 and 23.07.2013. These reports, while giving details of the investigation carried out by the department against the assessees, and their prima facie findings in respect thereof, also contained the objections of the department to accepting the applications preferred by the assessees for…

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