Case Law Details
Pawan Kumar Vs DCIT (ITAT Amritsar)
ITAT Amritsar held that initiation of Assessment Proceedings u/s 153C, instead of section 153A, in case of the searched assessee makes the entire assessment invalid. Accordingly, penalty levied u/s 271(1)(c) is not maintainable.
Facts- There was search and seizure proceedings u/s 132 on 25.09.2019 conducted on the premises of M/s AIRWINGS SERVICES PVT. LTD in which the appellant is an employee. A search was also conducted separately at the residential premises of the appellant.
Subsequently, the proceedings u/s 153C were initiated on the basis of material seized from Cambridge International Foundation school that the documents seized pertain to noting of salary in respect of school and includes the salary ‘paid to maids’ amounting to Rs. 205390/- which pertain to M/s Pal Enterprises for which the appellant is a proprietor. The said noting pertains to 06.08.2019 based on which, the whole proceedings u/s 153C have been initiated.
It was also submitted that the provisions of section 153C were not relevant in the instant case as the notice u/s 153C is to be issued to a person other than the persons referred to in section 153A. It is a matter of record that the appellant was also subjected to search on 25.09.2019 and as such the appellant cannot be referred to as a person other than the person referred in section 153A. In the present case, the AO has himself admitted that the appellant was searched and as such, the proceedings-initiated u/s 153C were without jurisdiction.
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