Umesh Kumar Baja Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
No Mind, No Assessment – Mechanical Sanction Fatal – ITAT Delhi strikes down 153A orders for lack OF proper 153D Approval- Mechanical 153D Approval vitiates entire block of assessments -Relief for AYs 2011-12 to 2019-20: ITAT Delhi
Delhi ITAT has quashed a block of assessments framed u/s 143(3) r.w.s. 153A, granting full relief for AYs 2011-12 to 2019-20, after holding that the approval granted u/s 153D was mechanical & omnibus in nature.
A search & seizure operation u/s 132 was carried out on 28.06.2018 at the Bajaj Group premises. Consequent to this, assessments were framed for AYs 2011-12 to 2019-20 with large additions on account of unexplained investments, unsecured credits, profit estimation & other disallowances. CIT(A) partly allowed relief, but both assessee & Revenue filed appeals before ITAT. The key legal challenge raised by Assessee was the validity of approval u/s 153D accorded by the Additional CIT vide a common letter dated 14.07.2021, which covered 20 assessment years of five different assessees.
Assessee argued that the sanction u/s 153D must be based on independent application of mind for each year & each assessee separately. Addl. CIT’s omnibus approval was granted in bulk without scrutiny of individual draft orders, seized material, or assessment records, rendering it a ritualistic exercise. Reliance was placed on land mark rulings including Delhi HC in Shiv Kumar Nayyar (2024) & Anuj Bansal (2023),Delhi HC in MDLR Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (2024), Allahabad HC in Sapna Gupta (2022) & Orissa HC in Serajuddin & Co. (2023) (SLP dismissed by SC in 2024). ITAT Delhi’s own rulings in group cases of Harish Bajaj & Devendra Kumar Bajaj where identical approvals were struck down.
