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Issues involved: Reopening of assessments u/s.147, jurisdiction of assessing authority, additions made by Assessing Officer, modifications by Commissioner of Income-tax(A), lack of opportunity for assessee to examine witness, hasty reassessment orders, lack of specificity in appellate order.
Reopening of assessments u/s.147: The Assessing Officer reopened the assessments u/s.147 based on information obtained during a subsequent search, specifically a statement by the Cashier cum Accountant of the assessee firm regarding manipulated accounts. The Commissioner of Income-tax(A) upheld the jurisdiction for reopening the assessments, leading to reassessments u/s.144 of the IT Act, 1961. Jurisdiction of assessing authority: The assessee contested the jurisdiction of the assessing authority to reopen the assessments, particularly questioning the reliance on the initial statement of the Cashier cum Accountant. The Commissioner of Income-tax(A) upheld the jurisdiction, leading to the consequential reassessments. Additions and modifications: The Commissioner of Income-tax(A) accepted some contentions of the assessee, deleting additions related to inflation of expenses and modifying disallowances u/s.40A(3) and payments to lorry owners. Both the assessee and the Revenue were aggrieved by the modifications made by the Commissioner of Income-tax(A). Lack of opportunity for assessee: The assessee raised concerns about not being given the opportunity to examine the witness whose statement led to the reopening of assessments. The assessments were completed ex-parte at the end of the limitation period, limiting the assessee's ability to defend its case. Hasty reassessment orders and lack of specificity: The Appellate Tribunal found that the reassessment orders were hasty, and the appellate order by the Commissioner of Income-tax(A) lacked specificity in addressing the grounds for decisions on various contentions of law and facts. Conclusion: The Appellate Tribunal set aside the orders of the lower authorities and remitted the cases to the Assessing Officer for fresh disposal, emphasizing the importance of following principles of natural justice and utilizing existing materials. The Tribunal refrained from expressing opinions on the raised grounds, allowing for a fresh assessment process. The appeals filed by both the Revenue and the Assessee were treated as allowed for statistical purposes.
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