Pawan Kumar Vs JCIT (ITAT Delhi)
The case of Pawan Kumar vs JCIT (Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi) revolves around the imposition of a penalty of Rs. 1,40,000 under section 271E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”) for the Assessment Year (A.Y.) 2014-15. The appellant, Pawan Kumar, challenged the penalty order before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)], whose decision was subsequently appealed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Delhi.
Background
i. Assessment Year 2015-16: During the scrutiny of Pawan Kumar’s case for A.Y. 2015-16, the Assessing Officer (AO) collected information from Allahabad Bank. It was found that on 21.03.2014, Pawan Kumar repaid an amount of Rs. 1,40,000 to Shri S.C. Jain through a bearer cheque, allegedly violating the provisions of Section 269T of the Act. The AO, in the assessment order dated 29.12.2017, mentioned that the matter for imposing a penalty under Section 271E would be referred to the Additional CIT, Range-2, Ghaziabad.
ii. Penalty Proceedings: The AO referred the matter for penalty, and a penalty of Rs. 1,40,000 was imposed by the JCIT, Range-2, Ghaziabad, under Section 271E of the Act. The appellant challenged this penalty order before the CIT(A), who confirmed the penalty.
Grounds of Appeal: The appellant raised several grounds of appeal before the ITAT:
