Om Kar Singh Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
ITAT Delhi quashes reassessment—AO wrongly assumed no return filed; mechanical 148 notice held invalid
Delhi annulled the reassessment, holding that the notice u/s 148 was issued without application of mind on a wrong premise that Assessee had not filed any return.
AO reopened the case based on NMS data showing large cash deposits of ₹15.21 crore, assuming no ITR was filed. In reality, Assessee had filed return on 15-09-2017, a fact even acknowledged later in the assessment order. ITAT found that reopening was entirely mechanical & factually incorrect, falling under Explanation 2(a) to s.147 which applies only where no return is filed.
Tribunal relied on Sagar Enterprises v. ACIT (2001) 12 TMI 18 (Guj), Deepak Wadhwa v. ACIT (2021) 3 TMI 332 (Del) & Vijender Nath Gupta v. ITO (2025) 4 TMI 996 (Del), holding that incorrect factual assumptions vitiate “reason to believe”. It ruled that both the AO & approving authority failed to apply independent mind—thus, reopening was invalid.
Accordingly, the entire assessment order dated 30-03-2022 & CIT(A)’s order were quashed, rendering other grounds academic.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
The present appeal is filed by the Assessee against the order of Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax Appeals/National Faceless Appeal Centre (‘Ld. CIT(A) for short) dated 10/06/2024 for the Assessment Year 2017-18. The assesseehas raised following grounds of appeal :-
1. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, no notice under section 143(2) was issued/served on the appellant, hence the assessment order passed by the AO is illegal, bad in law and without jurisdiction and CIT(A) erred in not holding so.
2. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the CIT(A) erred in confirming the addition made by the Ld. Assessing Officer of Rs. 1,32,46,215/- on account of alleged unexplained money u/s 69A of the Act.
3. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the notice u/s 148 issued in this case is bad-in-law, illegal, without jurisdiction and barred by limitation and, therefore, the said notice u/s 148 along with assessment order passed on the foundation of such notice are liable to be quashed and CIT(A) erred in not holding so
4 .On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the reassessment proceedings initiated are contrary to the provisions of law including the specific provisions of section 147 to section 151 of Income Tax Act, 1961 and therefore, the reassessment proceeding initiated along with assessment order passed are liable to be quashed and CIT(A) erred in not holding so.
5. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the order passed by the learned assessing officer and the addition made therein is bad-in-law and CIT(A) erred in not holding so.
6. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the order passed by CIT (A) is against the principles of natural justice.
7. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the CIT(A) erred in not adjudicating the ground of appeal on merit.
Additional grounds of Appeal
“1. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, no notice u/s 143(2) was issued/served on the appellant, hence the assessment order passed by the A.O. is illegal, bad in law and without jurisdiction and Ld. CIT(A) erred in not holding so.
2. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the notice u/s 148 issued in this case is bad-in-law, without jurisdiction and barred by limitation and, therefore, the said notice and assessment order passed is liable to be quashed.
3. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the reassessment proceedings initiated are contrary to provisions of Section 147 to Section 151 of the Act and therefore, the assessment order passed is liable to be quashed.
4. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the order passed by the Ld. A.O. and the addition made therein is abd-in-law and Ld. CIT(A) erred in not holding so.”
2. Brief facts of the case are that,the assessee filed its return of income u/s. 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’ for short) for A.Y. 2017-18. The assessment was reopened u/s. 147 of the Act and a notice u/s. 148 of the Act has been issued on 24.03.2021. An assessment order came to be passed on 30.03.2022 Under Section 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the Act by making an addition of Rs.1,32,46,215/- u/s. 69A of the Act on account of cash deposited during the year as unexplained money and AO by involving provisions of section115BBE of the Act, imposed 60% rate on the said addition.
