2017 (3) TMI 1739 - AT - Income Tax

Penalty u/s 271(1)(c) - assessee claimed deduction under the head Power purchase price. - Held that - The penalty under identical circumstances was also imposed on the assessee for the immediately preceding assessment year i.e. 2007-08. The Tribunal has deleted the penalty. A copy of such order has been placed on record. The ld. DR could not point out any distinguishing feature for this year vis- -vis the immediately preceding year which has been considered and decided by the Tribunal. Respectfully following the precedent we uphold the impugned order in deleting the penalty. - Decided in favour of assessee.

Summary

Issues:
Penalty under section 271(1)(c) of the Act for Assessment Year 2008-09.

Analysis:
The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the order of the CIT(A) deleting the penalty of Rs. 8 crore imposed by the Assessing Officer under section 271(1)(c) of the Act for the Assessment Year 2008-09. The assessee had claimed a deduction of Rs. 22.93 crore under the head 'Power purchase price' without debiting it to the Profit & Loss Account, citing additional power purchased due to an increase in demand. The Assessing Officer disallowed this deduction and imposed a penalty. However, the CIT(A) deleted the penalty.

Upon review, it was noted that a penalty under similar circumstances was imposed on the assessee for the preceding assessment year 2007-08, which was subsequently deleted by the Tribunal. The Tribunal found no distinguishing feature for the current year compared to the previous year, as per the precedent set in the earlier decision. Consequently, the Tribunal upheld the order deleting the penalty.

In conclusion, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue, affirming the decision to delete the penalty. The judgment was delivered on 28th March 2017 by Shri R.S. Syal and Ms. Suchitra Kamble, JJ.