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2013 (11) TMI 75 - AT - Income TaxJurisdiction of assessment u/s 153C of the Income Tax Act - Whether the assessing officer was within his sphere to call upon the appellant to furnish its returns of income on the solitary reasoning that the appellant’s was also one of the members of UPDA who had made certain illegal payments to various public servants – Held that:- No books of account nor any incriminate documents pertaining to the appellant were seized when a search was conducted in the residential premises of Sri Miglani and that no books of account or documents or assets seized or requisitioned were handed over to the assessing officer having jurisdiction over the appellant – Assessee was not within his realm for initiation of proceedings u/s 153A r.w.s 153C of the Act in the case of the present appellant. Reliance has been placed on the P Srinivas Naik v. ACIT reported in [2007 (11) TMI 443 - ITAT BANGALORE], wherein it has been declared that - Documents or books of account found during the course of search and seized cannot be termed to be indicating any limited interest of the ownership of the assessee in such books of account or documents. The language used in section 153C is materially different from the language used under section 158BD. As per section 158BD, if any undisclosed income relates to other person, then action against such other person can be taken provided such undisclosed income is referable to the document seized during the course of search. However, section 153C says that if valuable or books of account or documents belonging to other persons are seized then action under section 153C can be taken against that person. In the instant case, books of account or documents do not belong to the assessee and, therefore, the AO was not justified in initiating action under section 153A read with section 153C of the Act – In the instant case, primary condition for issue of notices under section 153C of the Income-tax Act are not satisfied and, hence, the assessing officer was not justified in initiating proceedings under section 153C of the Incometax Act for all the assessment years under dispute – Decided against the Revenue.
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