Khoday Ehshwarsa and Sons Vs DCIT (ITAT Bangalore)
ITAT Bangalore held that approval given under section 153D of the Income Tax Act at the fag end of assessment in a mechanical manner and without application of mind is invalid and bad in law.
Facts- In the present case, the assessment was framed by the AO u/s. 153A r.w.s. 143(3) r.w.s. 153D of the Act vide order dated 31.3.2022 after making various additions to the total income of the assessee. The assessee before CIT-A challenged the validity of the assessment framed by the AO on various grounds. Among other grounds raised by the assessee before the learned CIT-A, one of the grounds was that the approval granted by Additional Commissioner of Income Tax for framing the impugned assessment was without the application of mind and consequently the impugned assessment framed by the AO is bad in law. However, CIT-A rejected the ground raised by the assessee.
Being aggrieved, the assessee has challenged the order of CIT-A on various grounds including the validity of the assessment order being bad in law.
Conclusion- It is a trite law that whenever any statutory obligation is casted upon any statutory authority, such authority is required to discharge its obligation not mechanically, not even formally but after due application of mind.
