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TMI Blog2023 (6) TMI 270X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a search and seizure operation conducted in respect of a third party, certain incriminating materials belonging to the assessee were found. Consequent thereupon, proceedings u/s. 153C of the Act were initiated on the assessee. In response to notice issued u/s. 153C of the Act, the assessee filed his return of income under section 139(1) of the Act declaring total income of Rs.5,12,340/-. Based on the material found in course of search and seizure operation conducted on the third party, the Assessing Officer ultimately completed the assessment by determining total income at Rs.24,04,625/- after making addition of Rs.18,92,285/- on account of commission paid for availing accommodation entry. Though, the assessee contested the addition by filing an appeal, however, he was unsuccessful. 5. Before us, learned counsel appearing for the assessee drew our attention to the assessment order and submitted that the assessment order issued manually does not contain any Document Identification Number(DIN), which is mandatory for any communication issued after 1st October, 2019. He submitted, though, the assessment order was passed on 24.12.2021, however, the Assessing Officer issued DIN through ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... subsequently, the Assessing Officer issued one more communication dated 03.02.2022 to the assessee generating the DIN of the assessment order. The issue, which arises for consideration is, whether, the subsequent communication issued by the Assessing Officer generating the DIN in respect of the assessment order will satisfy the conditions of CBDT Circular No. 19/2019 dated 14.08.2019 and cure the deficiency in issuing the assessment order manually without generating the DIN. 9. For arriving at a proper conclusion in this regard, it is necessary to look into the contents of Circular No. 19/2019 dated 14.08.2019 issued by the CBDT, which are as under : "Circular No. 19 /2019 Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes New Delhi, dated the 14th of August, 2019 Subject: Generation/Allotment/Quoting of Document Identification Number in Notice/Order/Summons/Ietter/correspondence issued by the Income-tax Department - reg. With the launch of various e-governance initiatives, income-tax Department is moving toward total computerization of its work. This has led to a significant improvement in delivery of services and has als ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cation issued under aforesaid circumstances shall stale the fact that the communication is issued manually without a DIN and the date of obtaining of the written approval of the Chief Commissioner / Director General of Income-Tax for issue of manual communication in the following format- " .. This communication issues manually without a DIN on account of reason/reasons given in para 3(i)/3(ii)/3(iii)/3(iv)/3(v) of the CBDT Circular No ...dated (strike off those which are not applicable) and with the approval of the Chief Commissioner / Director General of Income Tax vide number .... dated .... " 4. Any communication which is not in conformity with Para-2 and Para-3 above, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. 5. The communication issued manually in the three situations specified in para 3- (i), (ii) or (iii) above shall have to be regularised within 15 working days of its issuance, by - i. uploading the manual communication on the System. ii. compulsorily generating the DIN on the System; iii. communicating the DIN so generated to the assessee/any other person as per electronically generated pro-forma available on the System. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r recording such reasons has been specified. Paragraph 4 of the circular makes it clear that any communication issued which, is not in conformity with paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 of the circular, shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. It is fairly well settled, a circular issued u/s. 119 of the Act has statutory force and binding on subordinate authorities working under the Central Board of Direct Taxes. 11. A perusal of the impugned assessment order makes it clear that in the body of the assessment order the Assessing Officer has neither recorded the reasons for issuing the assessment order manually without DIN nor the date and number of approval of the Chief Commissioner/Director General of Income-tax. The subsequent communication dated 03.02.2022 issued by the Assessing Officer generating DIN of the assessment order cannot make good the deficiency in the assessment order issued without generating DIN, as, the Assessing Officer has failed to adhere to the conditions of paragraph No. 3 of the extant Circular, wherein, it has been specifically mandated that in a case where the Assessing Officer has to issue the communication manually without gen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l assessment order manually, albeit, without DIN. 16.1 Given this situation, clearly paragraph 4 of the 2019 Circular would apply. 17. Paragraph 4 of the 2019 Circular, as extracted hereinabove, decidedly provides that any communication which is not in conformity with paragraph 2 and 3 shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. The phraseology of paragraph 4 of the 2019 Circular fairly puts such communication, which includes communication of assessment order, in the category of communication which are non-est in law. 17.1 It is also well established that circulars issued by the CBDT in exercise of its powers under Section 119 of the Act are binding on the" revenue. 17.2 The aforementioned principle stands enunciated in a long line of judgements, including the Supreme Court's judgment rendered in K.P. Varghese v. Income Tax Officer, Ernakulam and Anr., (1981) 4 SCC 173. The relevant extracts are set forth hereafter: "12. But the construction which is commending itself to us does not rest merely on the principle of contemporanea expositio. The two circulars of the Central Board of Direct Taxes to which we have just referred are legally b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted the stringent provisions of Section 12(1-B) as it was introduced in 1955, were substantially granted exemption from the operation of the said provisions by making it clear to all the companies and their shareholders that if the past loans were genuinely refunded to the companies they would not he taken into account under Section 12(1 -B), " Sections 2(6-A)(e) and 12(1-B) did not suffer from the vice of unconstitutionality. This decision was followed in Ellerman Lines case [(1972) 4 SCC 474 : 1974 SCC (Tax) 304 : 82 ITR 913] where referring to another circular issued by the Central Board of Revenue under Section 5(8) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 on which reliance was placed on behalf of the assessee, this Court observed: "Now, coming to the question as to the effect of instructions issued under Section 5(8) of the Act, this Court observed in Navnitlal C. Javeri v. K.K. Sen, Appellate Assistant Commissioner, Bombay [AIR 1965 SC 1375 : (1965) 1 SCR 909 : 56 ITR 198] : 'It is clear that a circular of the kind which was issued by the Board would be binding on all officers and persons employed in the execution of the Act under Section 5(8) of the Act. This circular pointe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e instant appeal all that we are required to consider is whether any substantial question of law arises for consideration, which, inter alia, would require the Court to examine whether the issue is debatable or if there is an alternate view possible. Given the language employed in the 2019 Circular, there is neither any scope for debate not is there any leeway for an alternate view. 21.1 We find no error in the view adopted by the Tribunal. The Tribunal has simply applied the provisions of the 2019 Circular and thus, reached a conclusion in favour of the respondent/assessee." 13. Thus, keeping in view the aforesaid observations of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court and in terms of paragraph 4 of the circular No. 19/2019 dated 14.08.2019, we have no hesitation in holding that the impugned assessment order is invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. Accordingly, we quash the impugned assessment order. As a natural corollary, the order of ld. Commissioner (Appeals) is set aside. 14. Since, we have allowed assessee's appeal on the legal ground, rest of the grounds, having been rendered academic, do not require adjudication. 15. In the result, appeal is allowed as indicat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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