DCIT Vs Suprobha Behera (ITAT Delhi)
The Delhi Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) disposed of the Revenue’s appeals and the assessee’s cross-objections for Assessment Years (AYs) 2010-11 to 2013-14 arising from the orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)], which had quashed assessments framed under Sections 153C/144 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
The Revenue challenged the CIT(A)’s decision on several grounds. It contended that the CIT(A) had wrongly relied upon the judgment of the Delhi High Court in PCIT, Central-1, Delhi vs. Ojjus Medicare Pvt. Ltd., despite the filing of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against that decision. The Revenue further argued that the ten-year block period under Section 153C should be computed from the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the original search was conducted, particularly in view of the amendments introduced by the Finance Act, 2017. It also submitted that the judgments in CIT vs. Jasjit Singh and CIT vs. RRJ Securities Ltd. dealt with the legal position prior to the 2017 amendment and were therefore distinguishable. Additionally, the Revenue asserted that the case involved organised tax evasion and accommodation entries falling within Exception (h) of Paragraph 3.1 of CBDT Circular No. 5/2024 and warranted strict scrutiny.
