Mukul Rani Thakur Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi, has granted relief to a 66-year-old senior citizen, Mukul Rani Thakur, by invalidating an assessment order for the Assessment Year 2021-22. The tribunal found that the assessment, pertaining to alleged undisclosed capital gains, was flawed due to the Assessing Officer’s (AO) failure to obtain mandatory prior approval under Section 153D of the Income Tax Act before passing the order.
Thakur had filed her income tax return declaring an income of ₹6,98,900, primarily from the sale of equity shares and other sources like interest and dividends. During the assessment proceedings initiated under Section 143(3) of the Act, the AO referred to a search conducted on a third party, Shri Praveen Kumar Jain, and a “kachchi parchi” (loose paper) image purportedly found on the mobile phone of Shri Vaibhav Jain. The AO alleged that this evidence indicated an under-reported sale consideration of ₹1,05,50,000 from the sale of a property in Preet Vihar, Delhi, by Thakur. Consequently, an addition of ₹97,37,300 was made to her income as Long Term Capital Gain (LTCG), based on this “kachchi parchi” and some WhatsApp chats.
Thakur contested the assessment, denying any connection to the “kachchi parchi” found on a third party’s phone. She also argued that the digital evidence relied upon by the AO lacked the necessary certificate of authentication under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act.
