Damanjeet Singh Oberoi Vs DCIT (ITAT Raipur)
AY 2015-16 Reassessment Collapses : ITAT Raipur Quashes ₹1 Cr Cash Addition as 148 Notices Issued Post-01.04.2021 Are Void
The Raipur Bench of the ITAT in Damanjeet Singh Oberoi vs. DCIT, Circle-1(1), Raipur [ITA No.317/RPR/2025, AY 2015-16, order dt. 01-01-2026] allowed the Assessee’s appeal and quashed the entire reassessment proceedings, including the addition of ₹1,00,00,000/- made u/s 69A on alleged cash receipts from the Babylon Group.
The case originated from a survey u/s 133A conducted in the case of Babylon Group, during which a hard disk allegedly indicated cash payments to various sellers of immovable property, including the Assessee. Based on third-party material, the AO issued notice u/s 148 on 30-06-2021 under the old regime, followed by proceedings u/s 148A(b)/(d) and a fresh notice u/s 148 on 26-07-2023 under the new regime, culminating in reassessment u/s 147 r.w.s. 144B. The CIT(A)/NFAC upheld both the reopening and the addition.
The Tribunal held that for AY 2015-16, all notices issued u/s 148 on or after 01-04-2021 are liable to be dropped, in view of the binding concession recorded by the Supreme Court in Union of India vs. Rajeev Bansal (SC), and consistently followed in Veena Jain vs. ITO (Del HC) and Cherian Nallathu Abraham Annamma vs. ITO (Bom HC). Since the very assumption of jurisdiction was bad in law, the notice dt. 26-07-2023 and all consequential proceedings were quashed. The Tribunal, therefore, set aside the order of the CIT(A)/NFAC and allowed the appeal without examining the merits of the ₹1 crore addition.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT RAIPUR
