DCIT Vs Meena Mehra (ITAT Delhi)
ITAT Delhi: For ‘Other Person’, Six-Year Block u/s 153C to Be Reckoned from Date of Receipt of Material / Satisfaction Note – Revenue Appeal Dismissed
The Delhi Bench of the ITAT dismissed the Revenue’s appeal for AY 2021-22 and upheld the order of the CIT(A), holding that in the case of a person other than the searched person, the six-assessment-year block for the purpose of section 153C has to be computed from the date on which the books of account or seized material are received by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer and the satisfaction is recorded, and not from the date of search.
The Tribunal noted that although the search in the present case was conducted on 16.01.2021, the Assessing Officer of the assessee (being the “other person”) recorded the satisfaction note only on 30.08.2022. Therefore, the Assessing Officer erred in computing the six-year block period from the date of search instead of the date of receipt of material / satisfaction.
Relying on the binding judgment of the Supreme Court in CIT v. Jasjit Singh and the Delhi High Court decision in Ojjus Medicare Pvt. Ltd., the Tribunal held that the approach adopted by the CIT(A) was legally correct. Since the Revenue failed to cite any contrary authority applicable to the facts, the grounds raised by the Revenue were found to be devoid of merit and were dismissed.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT DELHI
