2017 (8) TMI 279 - AT - Income Tax

Assessment u/s 153C barred by limitation - time limit provided under section 153B - Held that - It is noted that the search and seizure operation under section 132 were carried out on September 17, 2008 and on the basis of which notices under section 153C of the Act was issued and the seized documents were handed over to the Assessing Officer of these assessees on April 1, 2011. Thus in terms of second proviso to section 153B the time limit for passing order under section 153C would be as under (i) Twenty-one months from the end of the financial year in which the last of the authorisation for search under section 132 or the requisition under section 132A was executed (ii) Nine months from the end of the financial year in which books of account or documents or assets seized or requisitioned are handed over under section 153C to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person Therefore, the order under section 153C should have been passed by December 31, 2012. Admittedly in all these cases, the orders under section 153C were passed after December 31, 2012. Therefore, considering all these facts and circumstances of the case, we hold that the order passed under section 153C were barred by limitation and it cannot be sustained - Decided in favour of assessee.

Summary

Issues:
Appeals against separate orders of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) for multiple assessment years. Additional ground raised regarding the assessment order being barred by limitation under section 153B.

Analysis:
The assessees filed appeals against orders of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) for various assessment years. During the hearing, the authorized representative of the assessees raised an additional ground claiming that the assessment orders were time-barred under section 153B. The search and seizure operation under section 132 revealed documents related to the assessees, which were handed over to the Assessing Officer on a specific date. The Assessing Officer issued notices under section 153C based on these documents, completing assessments by a certain date.

Analysis (contd.):
The provisions of section 153B specify time limits for completing assessments under sections 153A and 153C. The time limit for passing orders under section 153C was calculated based on the date of search and the date the documents were handed over to the Assessing Officer. It was noted that the orders under section 153C in these cases were passed after the prescribed deadline of December 31, 2012. Therefore, it was concluded that the orders under section 153C were indeed time-barred and could not be sustained.

Conclusion:
The additional ground raised by the authorized representative of the assessees regarding the orders being barred by limitation was allowed. As a result, all other grounds raised by the assessees became irrelevant in light of this decision. Consequently, the appeals of the respective assessees were allowed, and the orders were deemed to be time-barred under section 153B. The judgment was pronounced on May 17, 2017.