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TMI Blog2024 (8) TMI 1138X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing of Yes in the case of Central India Electric Supply [ 2011 (1) TMI 89 - DELHI HIGH COURT] . In view of the aforesaid, we find no justification to interfere with the view expressed by the Tribunal. No substantial question of law arises. The appeals fail and shall stand dismissed. - Hon'ble Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma And Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ravinder Dudeja For the Appellant : Mr. Indruj Singh Rai, SSC with Mr. Sanjeev Menon, JSC and Mr. Rahul Singh, JSC with Mr. Anmol Jagga, Adv. For the Respondent : Mr. Gautam Jain, Mr. Shaantanu Jain and Mr. Manish Yadav, Advs. ORDER CM APPL. 195/2024 (135 days delay in refilling) in ITA 2/2024 Bearing in mind the disclosures made, the delay of 135 days in re-filing the appeal is condoned. The application shall stand disposed of. CM APPL. 196/2024 (103 days delay in refilling) in ITA 3/2024 Bearing in mind the disclosures made, the delay of 103 days in re-filing the appeal is condoned. The application shall stand disposed of. ITA 593/2023, ITA 635/2023, ITA 636/2023, ITA 638/2023, ITA 639/2023, ITA 640/2023, ITA 641/2023, ITA 642/2023, ITA 643/2023, ITA 644/2023, ITA 645/2023, ITA 652/2023, ITA 653/2023, ITA 659/2023, ITA 2/2024, ITA ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... circumstances of the case and in law, the Hon'ble ITAT is correct in deleting the addition on the technical ground without discussing the merits of the case. VII. Whether the order of the ITAT is perverse based on facts of case, as total additions amounting to Rs. 51,45,24,370 have been deleted based on the flawed conclusion that no additions were made in the hands of the investors amounting to Rs. 24,95,65,027 without analysing or bringing on record any material with respect to the same in respect of each of the assessee covered in this batch of appeals and also ignoring the fact that in the chart produced on Page no. 43 of the order of the 1TAT, there is mention of amounts added in the hands of investors. VIII. Whether on the facts of the case in law the order of the Hon'ble ITAT is erroneous and not tenable in law and on facts. 2. The issue is principally concerned with the validity of the approval accorded in terms of Section 153D of the Income Tax Act,1961 [ Act ]. We note that the Tribunal has on facts ultimately found that the competent authority chose to accord approval to as many as 246 proposed assessments by way of a single letter of approval. That approval read ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of section 153A in respect of each assessment year falling within six assessment years immediately preceding the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which search is conducted under section 132 or requisition is made under section 132A. The provision has also been made applicable to orders of assessment passed under clause (b) of section 153B in respect of the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which search is conducted under section 132 or requisitioned is made under section 132A. 50.3 Applicability- These amendments will take effect from the 1st day of June, 2007. 16. The Legislative intent is clear from the above, in as much as, prior to the insertion of Sec. 153D of the Act, there was no provision for taking approval in cases of assessment and reassessment in cases where search has been conducted. Thus, the legislature wanted the assessments/reassessments of search and seizure cases should be made with the prior approval of superior authorities which also means that the superior authorities should apply their minds on the material on the basis of which the officer is making the assessment and after due application of mind and on the basis of seized ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Act, as it stood prior to the substitution by Act No. 13 of 2021. For the sake of clarity, the same is reproduced as under:- 151. Sanction for issue of notice. (1) No notice shall be issued under Section 148 by an Assessing Officer, after the expiry of a period of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year, unless the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner is satisfied, on the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer, that it is a fit case for the issue of such notice. (2) In a case other than a case falling under subsection (1), no notice shall be issued under Section 148 by an Assessing Officer, who is below the rank of Joint Commissioner, unless the Joint Commissioner is satisfied, on the reasons recorded by such Assessing Officer, that it is a fit case for the issue of such notice. (3) For the purposes of sub-section (1) and sub-section (2), the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Chief Commissioner or the Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner or the Joint Commissioner, as the case may be, being satisfied on the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer about fitness of a case for the issue of notice unde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... were, in fact, given. However, in the instant case, the manner in which the proforma was stamped amounting to approval by the Board leaves much to be desired. It is a case where literally a mere stamp is affixed. It is signed by an Under Secretary underneath a stamped Yes against the column which queried as to whether the approval of the Board had been taken. Rubber stamping of underlying material is hardly a process which can get the imprimatur of this court as it suggests that the decision has been taken in a mechanical manner. Even if the reasoning set out by the Income-tax Officer was to be agreed upon, the least which is expected is that an appropriate endorsement is made in this behalf setting out brief reasons. Reasons are the link between the material placed on record and the conclusion reached by an authority in respect of an issue, since they help in discerning the manner in which conclusion is reached by the concerned authority. Our opinion is fortified by the decision of the apex court in Union of India v. M.L. Capoor, (1973) 2 SCC 836 : AIR 1974 SC 87, 97 wherein it was observed as under: 27.. .. We find considerable force in the submission made on behalf of the respon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of notice under section 148 of the Income- tax Act, 1961. Approved , had held that the said approval would only amount to endorsement of language used in Section 151 of the Act and would not reflect any independent application of mind. Thus, the same was considered to be flawed in law. 21. The salient aspect which emerges out of the foregoing discussion is that the satisfaction arrived at by the prescribed authority under Section 151 of the Act must be clearly discernible from the expression used at the time of affixing its signature while according approval for reassessment under Section 148 of the Act. The said approval cannot be granted in a mechanical manner as it acts as a linkage between the facts considered and conclusion reached. In the instant case, merely appending the phrase Yes does not appropriately align with the mandate of Section 151 of the Act as it fails to set out any degree of satisfaction, much less an unassailable satisfaction, for the said purpose. 22. So far as the decision relied upon the Revenue in the case of Meenakshi Overseas Pvt. Ltd. is concerned, the same was a case where the satisfaction was specifically appended in the proforma in terms of the ph ..... 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