PCIT Vs MDLR Hotels Pvt Ltd (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court held that approval accorded in terms of section 153D of the Income Tax Act in a mechanical manner without application of mind is unsustainable in law. Accordingly, appeal of revenue dismissed and assessment order quashed.
Facts- The present appeals are preferred by the revenue. The issue is principally concerned with the validity of the approval accorded in terms of Section 153D of the Income Tax Act,1961. Revenue has mainly contested that ITAT has erred in allowing the appeal of the assessee and quashing the assessment order by holding that the approval has been given mechanically without application of mind despite the fact that Range Head was fully involved in each and every aspect of this case and had duly applied his mind in the process of completion of assessment proceedings.
Conclusion- This Court, while following Chhugamal Rajpal in the case of Ess Adv. (Mauritius) S. N. C. Et Compagnie v. ACIT, wherein, while granting the approval, the ACIT has written-“This is fit case for issue of notice under section 148 of the Income- tax Act, 1961. Approved”, had held that the said approval would only amount to endorsement of language used in Section 151 of the Act and would not reflect any independent application of mind. Thus, the same was considered to be flawed in law. The salient aspect which emerges out of the foregoing discussion is that the satisfaction arrived at by the prescribed authority under Section 151 of the Act must be clearly discernible from the expression used at the time of affixing its signature while according approval for reassessment under Section 148 of the Act. The said approval cannot be granted in a mechanical manner as it acts as a linkage between the facts considered and conclusion reached. In the instant case, merely appending the phrase “Yes” does not appropriately align with the mandate of Section 151 of the Act as it fails to set out any degree of satisfaction, much less an unassailable satisfaction, for the said purpose.
