Saint Gobain India Pvt. Ltd. DCIT (ITAT Chennai)
TP Order Time-Barred ⇒ Assessee Ceases to Be “Eligible Assessee”; Final Assessment Beyond Limitation Quashed
The Chennai Bench of the ITAT, in M/s Saint Gobain India Pvt. Ltd. vs. DCIT (ITA Nos. 1505 & 1672/Chny/2024, AY 2016-17, order dated 18-Dec-2025), quashed the final assessment order dated 28-02-2020 passed u/s 143(3) r/w s.144C, holding that the assessment was barred by limitation and hence void ab initio.
The Tribunal noted that the Transfer Pricing Officer’s order dated 01-11-2019 had already been held to be time-barred by the Madras High Court, a view affirmed by the Division Bench. Since the TP order itself was non-est, the assessee ceased to be an “eligible assessee” u/s 144C(15)(b). Consequently, the machinery provisions of s.144C (draft order / DRP route) could not be invoked at all.
Once s.144C was held to be inapplicable, the assessment ought to have been completed within 33 months from the end of AY 2016-17, i.e. on or before 31-12-2019, as per s.153(1) r/w s.153(4). However, the AO passed the final assessment only on 28-02-2020, clearly beyond the statutory time limit.
Rejecting the Revenue’s plea that the AO could not have anticipated the High Court’s decision, the Tribunal held that any order passed beyond the statutory limitation is invalid irrespective of subsequent events or difficulties of the department. Relying on its own earlier decisions in Pfizer Healthcare India Pvt. Ltd., Verizon Data Services India Pvt. Ltd., Eaton Power Quality, Durr India, and other coordinate-bench rulings, the Tribunal quashed the assessment as non-est, allowed the assessee’s appeal on legal grounds, and dismissed the Revenue’s appeal, holding that merits had become purely academic.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT CHENNAI
These are cross-appeals preferred by the assessee as well as the Revenue against the order of the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), (hereinafter referred to as ‘Ld.CIT(A)‘), Chennai-16, dated 22.03.2024 for the Assessment Year (hereinafter referred to as ‘AY‘) 2016-17.
