Ish Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
The Delhi ITAT allowed the assessee’s appeal against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-NFAC arising from an assessment made under Sections 147 read with 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2012-13. The assessee challenged the validity of the reassessment proceedings, the approval granted under Section 151, non-service of notice under Section 143(2), the allegation of change of opinion, and the additions made under Sections 68 and 69C.
There was a delay of 40 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. The assessee explained that the Chartered Accountant handling the income-tax matters had fallen ill and was quarantined. The Department opposed condonation, relying on various judicial precedents. The Tribunal found the explanation reasonable and, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Collector, Land Acquisition v. Mst Katiji, condoned the delay.
On merits, the Assessing Officer had received information from the Investigation Wing, Faridabad, regarding survey and search proceedings involving entities allegedly controlled by Shri Himanshu Verma. Based on that information, the AO formed a belief that the assessee had received accommodation entries in the form of share capital and share premium amounting to ₹6.96 crore from several entities allegedly controlled by Shri Himanshu Verma. The AO also added ₹13,92,000 as commission at 2% under Section 69C and completed reassessment after reopening the assessment under Section 147. The CIT(A) upheld both the reassessment and the additions.
