Victory Sales Private Limited Vs DCIT (ITAT Mumbai)
Mumbai ITAT: Section 153A Additions, Mechanical U/s 153D Approval & Limitation Challenge Require Examination of Assessment Records – 19 Search Appeals Restored to CIT(A)
The Mumbai ITAT dealt with 19 appeals of three connected assessees – Victory Sales Pvt. Ltd., Vikrant Marketings and Vipul Vidur Bhatt – arising from the same search proceedings, covering various AYs from 2010-11 to 2016-17.
A search under Section 132 was conducted in the Gurnani Group on 04.02.2016 in connection with alleged penny-stock/accommodation-entry transactions involving Sunrise Asian Ltd. The AO subsequently rejected the books under Section 145(3) and made various additions relating to Sections 40A(3), 40(a)(ia), 37(1), 68 and 69A, besides estimating commission income in the case of Vipul Vidur Bhatt.
Before the Tribunal, the assessees raised crucial jurisdictional grounds contending that additions for unabated assessment years under Section 153A could not survive in the absence of incriminating material found during search, relying principally upon the Supreme Court judgment in Abhisar Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. They also challenged the Section 153D approval as mechanical and without application of mind.
A further challenge was raised under Section 153B. Though the assessment orders purported to have been passed on 08.08.2018, the assessees contended that they were dispatched only on 11.08.2018 and received on 13.08.2018, and were therefore barred by limitation.
