Vishwanath Aggarwal Vs ACIT (ITAT Delhi)
SEO Title: ITAT Quashes Assessments Over Invalid Sanction
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) of Delhi has quashed the assessments for seven assessment years (2010-11 to 2016-17) for Vishwanath Aggarwal, ruling that the mandatory Section 153D approval was granted in a mechanical and invalid manner. Following a search operation in 2015, the assessments were completed in 2017 with various additions, which the CIT(A) had previously upheld. The assessee’s primary legal challenge was that the Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (JCIT) had issued a single, generic approval for all seven years on the same day the draft orders were submitted. The assessee contended that this “rubber-stamping” process indicated a lack of independent application of mind, which is a statutory requirement. The approval made no specific reference to seized documents or proposed additions, reinforcing the argument that it was merely a procedural formality.
The ITAT, in its decision, sided with the assessee, citing several precedents, including rulings by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, which held that mechanical approval vitiates an assessment. The tribunal noted that a single, proforma approval for a large number of cases on a single day is “humanly impossible to be judicious.” The court stated that a proper approval must be for each assessment year separately and must show some evidence of the approving authority’s thought process. Since the approvals in this case lacked any such indication and were granted simultaneously for multiple years, the ITAT concluded that the assessments were fundamentally flawed and must be quashed.
7.81%
One Approval, Seven Years – ITAT Delhi Says Mechanical 153D Sanction Invalid Delhi ITAT delivered a significant ruling, where assessments framed for AYs 2010-11 to 2016-17 pursuant to a search were quashed on the ground that approval u/s 153D was granted in a mechanical & perfunctory manner.
