Allowing a batch of five writ petitions, the Delhi High Court has quashed reassessment notices issued to Teva Pharmaceuticals USA as time-barred and without jurisdiction, set aside an Authority for Advance Rulings order, and directed the Income Tax Department to refund about Rs 783 crore of TDS to Teva Israel with interest. The Court held that while protective assessment is permissible, there is no concept of protective recovery, and that withholding the refund for over a decade was arbitrary to the point of being confiscatory.
