DCIT Vs BSES Yamuna Power Limited (ITAT Delhi)
TEN-YEAR ROPE CANNOT REACH AY 2010-11—DEEMED SEARCH IN 2023 ALSO HITS SECTION 153C SUNSET
The Delhi ITAT has held that, in the case of a person other than the searched person, the block period u/s 153C must be reckoned from the date on which seized material is received by his jurisdictional AO. Since the satisfaction was recorded & notice u/s 153C was issued only in December 2023, AY 2010-11 fell beyond even the permissible ten-year block. Further, the deemed date of search being after 01.04.2021, section 153C(3) independently prohibited issuance of the notice. The Revenue’s appeal was accordingly dismissed.
Facts of the case
The assessee, BSES Yamuna Power Limited, was a distribution licensee engaged in supplying electricity to parts of Delhi NCR.
For AY 2010-11, it filed its original return on 01.10.2010 declaring nil income. A revised return was subsequently filed on 30.03.2012 declaring a loss of ₹86,32,86,992.
A search & seizure action u/s 132 was conducted on the Alankit Group on 18.10.2019. During the search, the Department allegedly discovered that the assessee had received bogus accommodation entries from concerns belonging to the group, which were stated to be engaged in providing such entries in return for commission.
