Case Law Details
Prtatap Singh Yadav Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
Assessee filed appeal against CIT(A)’s order raising additional ground that the assessment order is null and void as the same is in violation of CBDT Circular No.19/2019 requiring mandatory DIN.
As the additional ground raises a purely legal and jurisdictional issue going to the root of the matter and could be decided without making investigation into fresh facts, Tribunal was inclined to admit the additional ground for adjudication.
Attention of the Tribunal was drawn to the assessment order issued manually which did not contain any Document Identification Number(DIN), which is mandatory for any communication issued after 1.10.2019. Though, the assessment order was passed on 24.12.2021, the AO issued DIN through a separate communication dated 03.02.2022, which demonstrates that the DIN was not issued within a period of 15 working days of the issuance of the assessment order. In the body of the assessment order, the AO has not recorded the reasons for issuing the assessment order manually without DIN and number & date of approval granted by CCIT/DGIT for issuing the assessment order manually without DIN.
As per Circular No. 19/2019 dt 14.08.2019 , any communication, which is not in conformity with the conditions prescribed in paragraph 2 and 3 of the Circular, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. Thus, the Assessee argued that the assessment order, having been issued without satisfying the conditions of the Circular, has to be treated as invalid. Assesee argued the Circular issued by CBDT is binding on the AO, the AO could not have violated the conditions of such circular and the assessment order should be quashed, being invalid. Assesee relied upon the following decisions:
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