Rajesh Sunderdas Vaswani Vs DCIT (Gujarat High Court)
Summary: The Gujarat High Court considered Special Civil Application No.15090 of 2025 as the lead matter in a common judgment concerning reopening of assessment for Assessment Year 2020-21. The petitioner, a partner of Venus Infrabuild and proprietor of Sundardeep Builders, challenged the show cause notice dated 26.06.2025 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the order dated 26.06.2025 passed under Section 148A(3). The Revenue had earlier issued a show cause notice dated 15.03.2025 under Section 148A(1), relying upon a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) flagged on the insight portal concerning transactions involving M/s. Sundaram Landscape LLP and M/s. Sundardeep Builders.
The petitioner had furnished replies dated 09.04.2025, 18.04.2025 and 10.06.2025 and had also responded to a summons issued by the Investigation Department under Section 131(1A), furnishing audit reports, balance sheets, profit and loss statements and other financial records. The STR reflected transactions of Rs.45.50 crores in the ICICI Bank account of Sundaram Landscape LLP and Rs.499.65 crores in the account of Sundardeep Builders. The respondent, however, concluded that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment to the extent of Rs.499,65,23,000/-.
The petitioner submitted that the statutory prerequisite for invoking Section 147 was not established. It was contended that the transactions were duly recorded in the books of account and that the petitioner had furnished the bank books, cash book, ledgers and financial statements. The petitioner further submitted that, apart from the suspicion reflected in the STR regarding the transaction pattern, there was no seized material, third-party statement or other evidence indicating that the transactions were bogus or accommodation entries. The Revenue, on the other hand, relied upon information available on the insight portal and referred to transactions including a credit of Rs.60 crores on 31.01.2020 and a debit of the same amount through internet fund transfer, as well as a transaction of Rs.15 crores relating to Raghuleela Infra Energy Private Limited on 19.03.2020.
