Jagdeep Singh Gill Vs DCIT/ACIT (ITAT Delhi)
Addition Deleted Because Revenue Failed to Verify Alleged Cash Payment From Seller or Co-Buyers; ITAT Holds Search-Related Assessments After 2021 Must Be Made Under Section 148; Assessment Set Aside Because Mandatory Approval Under Section 148B Was Not Obtained; ITAT Rejects Addition Based on Unsigned Loose Paper Found During Search.
In a combined order, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi Bench, allowed both appeals filed by the assessee for Assessment Years 2019-20 and 2021-22. The Tribunal examined issues relating to addition based on loose papers seized during search proceedings and the validity of assessment proceedings initiated under section 143(3) after a search conducted post-1 April 2021.
For AY 2019-20, the assessee had originally filed a return declaring income of Rs. 6.61 crore. A search under section 132 was conducted on 04.01.2022 in the ACE & Rudra group cases, during which certain documents were allegedly found from the possession of the assessee and his son. Based on a seized document marked “LP-1”, the Assessing Officer alleged that the assessee had a 35% share in a property at Chandernagar, Ghaziabad and had paid Rs. 20 lakh in cash towards the transaction. The AO treated the alleged payment as unexplained expenditure under section 69C read with section 115BBE.
