Facts:
a)
Assessee (“ESPN
Star Sports”), a partnership firm established under the laws of Mauritius, entered
into an agreement with “Star Sports India Private Limited” for allotting
advertisement slots to various advertisers and advertising agencies in India.
b)
Assessing Officer
(AO) passed draft assessment order as per section 144C(1) of the Income tax Act
(‘Act’) treating assessee as “Foreign company”.
c)
Assessee filed
objection before Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) that it wasn’t an ‘eligible
assessee’ as per section 144C(15) because it was neither a ‘foreign company’
nor any TP adjustment was made in its case. Therefore, no draft assessment
order could be passed against it.
d)
DRP accepted the
plea of assessee and declined to issue any direction but AO proceeded to pass
final order on basis of such draft assessment order.
e)
Aggrieved
assessee filed the instant writ petition before the High Court challenging the
final assessment order passed by the AO.
