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2014 (3) TMI 612 - AT - Income TaxValidity of jurisdiction u/s 153A of the Act - Search conducted u/s 132(1) of the Act - Whether in the absence of the assessee's name being mentioned in the Panchnama, jurisdiction u/s 153A of the Act was not validly invoked - Held that:- The Warrant of Authorisation contains the name of the assessee – thus, absence of the assessee's name in the Panchnama is not fatal to the conduct of the search - If the authorization is valid, absence of the name of the assessee in Panchnama will not render the search operation invalid, if other requirements of law are fulfilled – Relying upon M/s Rajat Tradecom (P) Ltd. vs. DCIT [2008 (9) TMI 424 - ITAT INDORE] - for applicability of Section 153A, the initiation of search is necessary - Section 153A would be applicable where a search is initiated u/s 132 - before invoking the provisions of Section 153A, it would be necessary to comply with the provisions contained in Section 132 (1) - Decided against Assessee. Whether since the premises searched was not owned by the assessee, the search conducted was not a search as envisaged u/s 132 of the Act, thereby vitiating the invocation of jurisdiction u/s 153A of the Act – Held that:- It cannot be denied that this is an issue pertaining to jurisdiction - It goes to the very root of the matter - It is not that the premises was owned by the assessee but was rented out - the premises searched does not belong to the assessee - non-compliance of the provisions of the Income-tax Act by the authorized officer renders a search invalid and illegal - Relying upon Dr. Mansukh Kanjibhai Shah vs. ACIT, Central Circle-2 [2010 (5) TMI 536 - ITAT, AHMEDABAD] - Since no search was conducted on the premises of the assessee and the search conducted was conducted on a premises not owned by the assessee, the proceedings u/s 153A of the Act are invalid and bad in law – Decided in favour of Assessee.
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