9911796707
TMI Blog2019 (11) TMI 1002X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ']. The contention of the assessee is that the Income Tax Officer has no reason to believe to initiate the proceedings u/s 147 of the Act. 3. The second challenge is on merits where addition of Rs. 20,40,848/- made u/s 68 of the Act has been questioned. 4. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that assessment proceedings u/s 147 of the Act were initiated on the basis of information received from the Income Tax Officer [I&LD. CI]-II, New Delhi. The satisfaction note was recorded by the Assessing Officer which reads as under: " As per information received from /TO (I&C1)- II, New Delhi vide letter TTO (I&Cl)- I/UCB/Dep./9/20l4-15/2095 dated 24.03.2016 regarding cash deposit by Shri Bhram Prakash Lakra was taken-up for verification ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssessing Officer himself states that the assessee has furnished copy of return of income electronically filed on 24.12.2013 declaring total income of Rs. 5,84,130/-. 9. In my considered opinion, reasons given by the Assessing Officer are devoid of any application of mind since not only the Assessing Officer assumed incorrect figure of cash deposits but also completely ignored the fact that return for the year under consideration was already filed on 24.12.2013. These facts can be gathered from the body of the assessment order itself. 10. The Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat in the case of Sunrise Education Trust, 92 taxmann.com 74 has observed as under: "5. Having heard Ld. Counsel for the parties and having perused the documents on re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... treated as having been filed in response to this notice. In 'Bir ITA Nos. 745/Del/2014 & 4144/Del/2018 Bahadur Singh Sijwali' (supra), like in the present case, the reasons recorded indicated that cash deposits had been made in the bank account of the assessee. The Tribunal held that the mere fact that the deposits having been made in a bank account does not indicate that these deposits constitute an income which has escaped assessment. It was observed that the reasons recorded did not make out a case that the assessee was engaged in some business and the income from such a business had not been returned by the assessee. In the case at hand also, the reasons recorded do not contain any such recital. The Tribunal held that the factum ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... engaged in any business; all that is to be examined is whether the fact of the deposits, per se, in the bank account of the assessee could be basis of holding the view that the income has escaped assessment. The answer, in our humble understanding, is in negative. The Assessing Officer has opined that an income of Rs. 10,24,100/- has escaped assessment of income because the assessee has Rs. 10,24,100/- in his bank account but then such an opinion proceeds on the fallacious assumption that the bank deposits constitute undisclosed income, and overlooks the fact that the sources of deposit need not necessarily be income of the assessee. Of course, it may be desirable, from the point of view of revenue authorities, to examine the matter in det ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fore, income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment" and we are unable to see anything on the facts of the present case which are materially similar to the facts of the said case. As regards her reliance on the decision of a coordinate bench in the case of Mithila Credit Services Ltd. vs. ITO [IT Appeal No. 1078/Delhi of 2013, dated 23.05.2014], it is important to bear in mind the fact that it was a case in which the Assessing Officer had reopened the assessment on the basis of receipt of information from Directorate of Investigation, and, as noted by the Assessing Officer in the reasons recorded for reopening the assessment, "the name of the assessee figures as one of the beneficiaries of these alleged bogus transactions" in the informat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... quashed, all other issues on merits of the additions, in the impugned assessment proceedings, are rendered academic and infructuous." 13. In the light of judicial decisions discussed hereinabove, and on finding parity in the facts with the facts of the case in hand, I am of the considered opinion that the assumption of jurisdiction by the Assessing Officer by issuing notice u/s 148 of the Act is bad in law. I accordingly, quash the notice issued u/s 148 of the Act, thereby quashing the assessment order. 13. Since the assessment order has been quashed, I do not find it necessary to dwell into the merits of the case. 14. In the result, the appeal of the assessee in ITA No. 7650/DEL/2018 is allowed. The order is pronounced in the open cour ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
