Sumitra Devi Vs Deputy/ACIT (ITAT Delhi)
Delhi ITAT Deletes Section 69A Addition in 153C Assessment for Want of Incriminating Material
The Delhi ITAT allowed the assessee’s appeal and deleted the addition of ₹19.42 lakh made under section 69A towards unsecured loans, holding that the assessment under section 153C was an unabated assessment and, therefore, no addition could be made in the absence of incriminating material. The Revenue had initiated proceedings pursuant to a search conducted in the Skylark Group cases and made the addition despite the loans having already been disclosed in the assessee’s regular books of account.
The Tribunal relied on the first proviso to section 153C(1) and the decisions of the Delhi High Court in RRJ Securities Ltd. and Ojjus Medicare (P.) Ltd., as well as the Supreme Court’s decision in Jasjit Singh, to hold that, in the case of an “other person”, the relevant date for determining whether an assessment is abated or unabated is the date on which the seized material is received by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such person. Applying this principle, AY 2017-18 was held to be an unabated assessment.
Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in DCIT v. Abhisar Buildwell Pvt. Ltd., the Tribunal held that the unsecured loans, already recorded in the regular books of account, could not be treated as unexplained in an unabated assessment in the absence of any incriminating seized material. Accordingly, the addition under section 69A was deleted and the assessee’s appeal was allowed.
Cases Discussed
- CIT Vs. Jasjit Singh (SC), (2024) 465 ITR 101 (SC)
- PCIT Vs. Ojjus Medicare (P.) Ltd. (Delhi HC), (2024) 465 ITR 101 (Del)
- DCIT Vs. Abhisar Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. (SC), (2023) 454 ITR 212 (SC)
- CIT-7 Vs. RRJ Securities Ltd. (Delhi HC), (2016) 380 ITR 612 (Del)
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
This assessee’s appeal for Assessment Year 2017-18 arises against the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-3 (for short, “the CIT(A)”), Gurgaon’s order dated 13.01.2026 passed in order no. 10516/CIT(A)-3/GGN/19-20, involving proceedings u/s 153C/ 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961; hereinafter referred to as, “the Act”.
