Bhupinder Singh Kapur Vs ITO (Supreme Court of India)
The proceedings arose from notices issued to Bhupinder Singh Kapur under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, dated 30.03.2024, and notices under Section 142(1) dated 23.08.2024, which were challenged on the ground that they had been issued without jurisdiction. A search under Section 132 had been conducted on 28.01.2021, and assessment proceedings against the searched person were completed under Section 158BC, now Section 153A, in September 2022. The Assessing Officer of the searched person subsequently drew a satisfaction note on 07.06.2023 concerning documents seized in relation to the petitioner and transmitted the documents to the concerned Assessing Officer, who drew his satisfaction note on 31.10.2023. The Section 153C notice was thereafter issued on 30.03.2024.
Before the High Court, the petitioner relied on CBDT Circular No. 24/2015 dated 31.12.2015, issued in the context of the Supreme Court judgment in Commissioner of Income-tax III vs. Calcutta Knitwears (2014) 362 ITR 673 (SC). The petitioner submitted that satisfaction under Section 158BD/153C could be recorded at the time of, or along with, initiation of proceedings against the searched person, during the assessment proceedings, or immediately after completion of those proceedings. Since the satisfaction note in the petitioner’s case was prepared on 31.10.2023, more than one year after completion of the searched person’s assessment proceedings, the petitioner contended that the proceedings were belated. The petitioner also raised an objection concerning the six-year period applicable under the first proviso to Section 153C and relied upon Com Singh (2023) 458 ITR 43 (SC).
