Daisy Distributors Pvt. Ltd. Vs ITO (Delhi High Court)
Conclusion: Where jurisdictional condition for AO of assessee to assume jurisdiction under Section 153C was not satisfied, in any event AO was not precluded from initiating proceedings under Section 148A on the basis of the information available on the insight portal, which was suggestive of the fact that assessee’s income for AY 2015- 16 had escaped assessment.
Held: AO had issued a notice under Section 148(A)(b) for Assessment Year (AY) 2015- 16, inter alia, stating that information was received through insight portal from the Investigation Wing to the effect that assessee was a beneficiary of accommodation entries provided by one Joginder Pal Gupta (DAG Group). Assessee argued that AO lacked jurisdiction to initiate proceedings under Section 147/148 as the information derived from the search should had been assessed under Section 153C. It was held that in the present case, AO was not handed over any books of accounts or material by AO of the searched person (Sh. Joginder Pal Gupta of DAG Group). Thus, the necessary threshold condition for AO of Assessee, initiating the proceedings under Section 153C was not satisfied. Thus, in any event AO was not precluded from initiating proceedings under Section 148A on the basis of the information available on the insight portal, which was suggestive of the fact that assessee’s income for AY 2015- 16 had escaped assessment. The present case was covered squarely by the decision of the Supreme Court in Principal Commissioner of Income Tax v. Abhisar Buildwell (P.) : (2023) 149 taxmann.com 399 (SC) as the jurisdictional condition for AO of assessee to assume jurisdiction under Section 153C was not satisfied. The question whether the provisions of Section 153C precluded recourse to reopening assessments under Section 147/148, on the basis of information found during the search conducted under Section 132 or requisition made under Section 132A in respect of another person, was also covered against assessee by the decision of this Court in ITA 401/2022.
