DCIT Vs Falguni Suryakant Thakar (ITAT Delhi)
Wrong Search Year, Wrong Jurisdiction: Date of Receipt, Not Date of Search, Governs 153C Limitation- Beyond Ten Years, Beyond Law: 153C Notice Held Time-Barred Despite ₹4 Cr Allegation
Ahmedabad ITAT upheld quashing of assessment u/s 153C for AY 2009-10 in case of DCIT Vs. Falguni Suryakant Thakar, holding that assumption of jurisdiction was barred by limitation & contrary to settled law. Search u/s 132 was conducted on SSS Group on 06.03.2018 & alleged incriminating material relating to Assessee was received much later, with notice u/s 153C issued only on 15.11.2021. Tribunal reiterated that for a non-searched person, the “search year” for computing six-year/ten-year block must be reckoned from date of receipt of seized material by AO of such other person, as per first proviso to s.153C, & not from original search date. Relying heavily on Supreme Court rulings in CIT Vs. Jasjit Singh (including dismissal of Revenue’s review) & Gujarat HC decision in Parag Rameshbhai Gathani, ITAT held that AY 2009-10 fell outside permissible block even after Finance Act 2017 amendments. Tribunal also rejected Revenue’s plea of Covid-19 exclusion period, noting absence of contemporaneous satisfaction & unexplained delay. Since assessment itself was void ab initio, penalty u/s 271(1)(c) could not survive. Accordingly, Revenue’s quantum & penalty appeals were dismissed; assessee’s cross-objection also dismissed as academic.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
