Anantram Orchards Pvt. Ltd. Vs ACIT (ITAT Chennai)
In Anantram Orchards Pvt. Ltd. Vs ACIT, the appeals were filed against orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for Assessment Years 2014–15 and 2018–19. A delay of 23 days in filing certain appeals was condoned after the Tribunal accepted the reasons provided by the assessees. The cases arose from a search and seizure operation under Section 132 conducted on 16.10.2019 in the NKV Krishna Group. During the search, statements were recorded and a pen drive was seized, based on which annexures were prepared indicating alleged unaccounted cash introduced as share capital or advances.
The Assessing Officer made additions under Section 68 for increases in share capital and advances. The assessees challenged the jurisdiction under Section 153A, arguing that the relevant assessment years were unabated and no incriminating material relating to those years was found during the search. The AO rejected this contention and completed assessments with additions. The CIT(A) upheld the additions, treating the seized pen drive as incriminating material and relying on findings from another assessment year.
Before the Tribunal, the assessees reiterated that no incriminating material existed for the relevant years and relied on the Supreme Court ruling in PCIT vs. Abhisar Buildwell (P.) Ltd. The Tribunal examined the seized annexures and found that although the names of the assessees appeared, no amounts relating to the relevant assessment years were recorded. It held that the material did not support the additions made.
