DCIT Vs Vinod Gupta (ITAT Delhi)
Delhi ITAT Applies Ojjus Medicare: Section 153C Assessment Beyond Six Years Quashed
The Delhi ITAT dismissed the Revenue’s appeal and upheld the CIT(A)’s order annulling the assessment made under section 153C against Vinod Gupta for AY 2014-15, holding that the assessment was barred by limitation and fell outside the permissible six-year period prescribed under the law.
The case arose from a search conducted on the Alankit Group. Certain documents allegedly belonging to the assessee were found during the search, and a satisfaction note under section 153C was recorded on 24.06.2022. Based on these documents, proceedings were initiated against the assessee for AY 2014-15.
The CIT(A), relying on the Delhi High Court decision in PCIT v. Ojjus Medicare Pvt. Ltd., examined the date on which the seized material was handed over and the satisfaction note was recorded. Since these events occurred during FY 2022-23 (relevant to AY 2023-24), the six assessment years that could validly be covered under section 153C were only AYs 2017-18 to 2022-23. AY 2014-15 fell outside this six-year block.
The appellate authority further noted that the satisfaction note itself reflected alleged transactions aggregating only about ₹3.35 lakh, far below the statutory threshold of ₹50 lakh required for invoking the extended period beyond six years. Therefore, the conditions necessary for reopening older years were not satisfied.
The Tribunal found that the Revenue was unable to point out any factual or legal error in the CIT(A)’s reasoning. Following the ratio laid down in Ojjus Medicare, it held that AY 2014-15 could not be brought within the ambit of section 153C proceedings and that the assessment order passed under section 153C had no legal foundation.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
This appeal is preferred by the revenue against the order dated 19.08.2025 of Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (A)-25, Delhi (hereinafter referred to as the First Appellate Authority or ‘the ld. FAA’ for short) in DIN No : ITBA/APL/M/250/2025-26/1079726362(1) arising out of the assessment order dated 28.03.2024 u/s 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) passed by DCIT, CC-28, Delhi for AY: 2014 -15.
