Parveen Aggarwal Vs ACIT (ITAT Delhi)
The Delhi ITAT allowed an assessee’s appeal, deleting Rs. 9.49 crore of unexplained credit additions after verifying bank entries with sale deeds, refunds, and transfer documents. The Tribunal upheld the reassessment’s validity but sustained only a nominal addition of Rs. 21,999, confirming that a lack of inquiry in the original assessment provided valid reasons to believe income escaped.
In these cross-appeals, Assessee (an individual) challenged the reassessment u/s 147/148 made by ACIT, Central Circle-14, wherein additions of ₹10.80 crore were made towards credit entries in a joint Union Bank account held with his wife Smt. Anju Aggarwal.
AO reopened the case on information from the wife’s assessment that large credits in the joint account related to the husband. Assessee contended that the same bank account had already been examined during the earlier u/s 153C r.w.s. 143(3) assessment (completed on 30-03-2015) & that the reopening was merely a change of opinion without new material.
Tribunal, however, held that the reopening was valid, as the 153C assessment was confined to seized material & no inquiry on the joint account had been made earlier. Hence, AO had valid “reasons to believe” that income had escaped assessment beyond four years & proper sanction had been obtained
