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TMI Blog2016 (6) TMI 30X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... peal are common having similar facts so these are being disposed off by this consolidated order for the sake of convenience and brevity. 3. The grounds raised in ITA No. 2813/Del/2014 for the assessment year 2003-04 in assessee s appeal read as under: 1. That on the facts and circumstances of the case and the provisions of law, the Ld CIT Appeals has failed to appreciate that the notice issued u/s 153C and assessment order passed by the Ld. AO u/s 153C/ 143(3) is illegal, time barred, bad in law, without jurisdiction and wrong on facts. The additions made are unjust, unlawful and arbitrary and are made against the principles of natural justice. 2. That on the facts and circumstances of the case and the provisions of law, the Ld CIT Appeals has failed to appreciate that the Ld AO was not justified to ignore the submission of the appellant that the assessment proceedings for the year under appeal was not pending on the date of the recording of satisfaction u/s 153C and since the same didn't abate, the proceedings u/s 153C of the Income Tax Act in this case are bad in law and deserves to be quashed. 3. That on the facts and circumstances of the case and the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wrongly confirmed/calculated the addition of ₹ 23,72,454/- without granting the credit of the peak of financial transactions as per the cash book/bank book for the preceding years. D) That the Ld CIT Appeals did not give sufficient opportunity of being heard to the appellant. 8. That the Ld. CIT Appeals has erred in ignoring the explanation given, evidences and material placed and available on record. The same has not been properly considered and judicially interpreted and the same do not justify the additions made. The additions have been sustained with preset mind of the Ld. CIT Appeals and her order is based on surmises, conjectures and suspicion. 9. That on the facts and the circumstances of the case and the provisions of law, the various observations and findings of the Ld CIT Appeals and Ld AO in the impugned appellate order and assessment order, respectively, are irrelevant and vitiated in the law. 10. That the Appellant craves the right to amend, append, delete any or all grounds of appeal. 4. In all other appeals of the assessee similar grounds are raised. The only difference is in the amount of sustenance of addition mentioned in Grounds N ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 10. We have considered the submissions of both the parties and carefully gone through the material available on the record. It is noticed that an identical issue having similar facts has been adjudicated by the ITAT Delhi Bench G , New Delhi in the case of ACIT Vs M/s Shield Home Pvt. Ltd. (supra) wherein the relevant findings have been given in paras 6 to 10 which read as under: 6. We have considered the rival submissions and have perused the relevant material placed before us. Learned CIT-DR has contended that the ground raised by the assessee before the learned CIT(A) with regard to validity of Section 153C was different than the ground raised before the ITAT. Therefore, in effect, the assessee is raising separate ground which is not permissible unless an additional ground is raised before the ITAT by duly seeking permission there for. We are unable to agree with this contention of learned CIT-DR. The assessee has raised the ground relating to validity of Section 153C before the CIT(A) which is evident from page 1 2 of learned CIT(A) s order wherein grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are reproduced. From the plain reading of those grounds of appeal, it is cle ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... plied by us) From the above, it is evident that Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court has held in clear words that first and foremost step for initiation of proceedings u/s 153C is for the Assessing Officer of the searched person to be satisfied that the assets or documents seized belong to the assessee. Admittedly, no such satisfaction is recorded by the Assessing Officer of the person searched. The CBDT, vide Circular No.24/2015 dated 31st December, 2015, held as under:- Subjects: Recording of satisfaction note under section 158BD/153C of the Act reg.- The issue of recording of satisfaction for the purposes of section 158BD/153C has been subject matter of litigation. 2. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M/s Calcutta Knitwears in its detailed judgment in Civil Appeal No.3958 of 2014 dated 12.3.2014 (available in NJRS at 2014-LL-0312-51) has laid down that for the purpose of Section 158BD of the Act, recording of a satisfaction note is a prerequisite and the satisfaction note must be prepared by the AO before he transmits the record to the other AO who has jurisdiction over such other person u/s 158BD. The Hon ble Court held that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction is recorded by the Assessing Officer of the person searched. In paragraph 5 of the above Circular, the CBDT has directed the Revenue authorities to withdraw the appeal if there is no recording of the satisfaction note in the light of above judgment. In our opinion, the above decision of Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court and the Circular of the CBDT are squarely applicable to the facts of the case, as no satisfaction is recorded by Assessing Officer of person searched. Respectfully following the decision of Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court in the case of RRJ Securities Ltd. (supra) and CBDT s Circular No.24/2015 dated 31st December, 2015, we are of the opinion that the initiation of proceedings u/s 153C cannot be held to be valid. 10. Though the learned counsel for the assessee has raised several other objections with regard to validity of the notice u/s 153C but since, in our opinion, the first and foremost step for initiation of proceedings u/s 153C i.e., the recording of the satisfaction by the Assessing Officer of the person searched is missing, the proceedings are invalid and, therefore, the other arguments of the assessee need not be examined in detail ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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