PCIT Vs NVP Venture Capital India Pvt. Ltd (Bombay High Court)
On going through the order of the ITAT it is quite clear that the findings given therein are purely based of the facts placed before it. The facts, as placed before the ITAT, have not been controverted or denied by the revenue before us. The ITAT, after considering all these factual aspects, came to a categorical finding that Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Pvt. Ltd. was engaged in a qualitatively different and diversified business than that of the assessee which was confined to rendering only non-binding investment advisory services to its Associated Enterprise (NVP – Mauritius). In coming to its conclusion, the ITAT also relied upon another decision of the Tribunal in the case of Carlyle India Pvt. Ltd. (ITA 2200/MUM/2014) dated 22nd August, 2014. In this case also the Tribunal concluded that though Motilal Oswal Investments Advisory Pvt. Ltd. was declaring a solitary stream of operating income under the head “advisory fee”, but un-disputedly it was engaged in diversified fields and the financial results for each segment were not seperately available. Considering that it engaged in many diversified fields and not only in the field of rendering non- binding advisory services, the ITAT came to a finding that Motilal Oswal Investments Advisory Pvt. Ltd. was not a concern which could be included in the list of comparable companies. We do not think that these findings of fact are in any way perverse or vitiated by any error apparent on the face of the record which, in turn, would give rise to any substantial question of law. We are in full agreement with the findings given by the ITAT. In fact, looking to the facts as narrated by the ITAT in the impugned order, we would have no hesitation in holding that by comparing Motilal Oswal Investments Advisory Pvt. Ltd. to the assessee company (for the purposes of determining the ALP) would be like comparing apples and oranges. This being the case, we do not find any infirmity in the order of the ITAT excluding Motilal Oswal Investments Advisory Pvt. Ltd. from the final list of comparables which would give rise to any substantial question of law.
