ACIT Vs Vivo Mobile India Private Limited (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court dismissed a Special Leave Petition filed by the Income Tax Department against a Delhi High Court judgment concerning reassessment proceedings initiated under Sections 148A and 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Supreme Court, after condoning delay, held that there was no ground to interfere with the High Court’s decision under Article 136 of the Constitution and accordingly dismissed the petition.
The matter before the Delhi High Court involved a challenge to a show cause notice issued under Section 148A(b), an order passed under Section 148A(d), and the consequent reassessment notice under Section 148 for Assessment Year 2018–19. The reassessment was initiated based on “high risk” information from the Insight Portal alleging that the assessee had received accommodation entries in the form of bogus capital expenses amounting to approximately ₹7.35 crore from a fictitious entity.
In response to the show cause notice, the assessee clarified that it had not entered into any transaction with the entity named in the notice and pointed out that the correct entity involved was differently named. Supporting documents were also furnished. The Revenue acknowledged this correction and conducted further inquiry, including physical verification of the corrected entity’s address. Based on this verification and the entity’s failure to respond to summons, the Revenue concluded that the entity was non-existent and used for accommodation entries.
