Mange Ram Mittal Vs CIT (Punjab And Haryana High Court)
The Punjab and Haryana High Court examined two appeals arising from a search and assessment under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The appeals challenged the order dated 18.08.2006 passed by a Special Bench of three Members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), New Delhi, concerning undisclosed income discovered at the residential premises of the assessee on 28.06.1996. The Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Hisar, had completed an additional assessment under Section 132(1) on 27.06.1997. The assessee appealed before the ITAT, and the Tribunal partly allowed the appeal, rejecting several additions made by the assessing officer. Both the Revenue and the assessee then filed appeals before the High Court. Read SC Judgment: Block Assessment Can Use Search Evidence & Related Material: SC Upholds HC View
The assessee contended that the assessment was solely based on material uncovered during the search and invoked Chapter XIV-B of the Act, a self-contained code for search assessments, asserting that only evidence found during the search should determine the undisclosed income. He argued that Section 158-BB (retrospectively effective from 01.07.1995) permitted taxation only of income directly relatable to the search material. The Tribunal, however, interpreted Section 158-BB to allow the assessing officer to consider both evidence found during the search and “such other materials or information” available and relatable to that evidence. The Court endorsed this interpretation, clarifying that post-search enquiries and other proceedings consequential to the evidence found are also valid for assessment under Section 158-BC.
