DCIT Vs Piyush Arun Bongirwar (ITAT Delhi)
ITAT Mumbai Quashes 153C Assessments – No Incriminating Material- Diary Entries of Earlier Year Cannot Justify 153C Notice – Tribunal Grants Relief
ITAT Mumbai has upheld the order of CIT(A) & quashed assessments framed u/s 143(3) r.w.s. 153C, holding that there was no incriminating material pertaining to the assessee for the relevant years.
The assessee had originally filed return for AY 2014-15 declaring income of Rs.44.98 lakhs. Later, a search was conducted in Mohini Group on 07.05.2018, during which a diary was seized containing some cash entries. On one page, the assessee’s name appeared along with four entries of payments totaling Rs.16 lakhs relating to FY 2012-13, relevant to AY 2013-14. Relying on this, the AO of the searched party recorded satisfaction & issued notice u/s 153C to the assessee for AYs 2014-15 & subsequent years. Assessment was completed by making addition u/s 68 in respect of alleged cash credits of Rs.2.16 crores.
On appeal, CIT(A) held that the seized page related only to FY 2012-13 & did not pertain to AY 2014-15 or later years. The other document forwarded, being a ledger of Mohini Shelters Pvt. Ltd., showed only banking channel entries & was not even referred to in the satisfaction note or assessment order. Thus, no incriminating material relatable to AY 2014-15 was found. CIT(A) relied on the Supreme Court judgment in Abhisar Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. [454 ITR 212] & Delhi High Court ruling in Saksham Commodities Ltd. [161 taxmann.com 485], & concluded that notice u/s 153C & the consequent assessment were invalid.
