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2021 (7) TMI 1270 - HC - Income TaxReopening of assessment u/s 147 or assessment u/s 153C - HELD THAT:- In this case, the names of around 500 persons/entities figure in the IVMS data and the question of logistics or practicable application of the provisions cannot be lost sight of. If the law offers multiple options to an officer as to how to proceed in a matter, it is for that officer to determine and come to a conclusion as to the proper, appropriate and simplest method of proceeding further. The provisions of Section 147 and 148 provide for assessment of income that have escaped assessment. Nowhere in Section 147 are the provisions of Section 153 excluded. AO must, in choosing the provision to apply, bear in mind the statutory conditions set out and arrive at a decision having regard to the logistics and the efficacy of the provision chosen. In a case such as the present, the respondent has, in my view, arrived at the proper conclusion, bearing in mind the interests of revenue, to share the information found with the assessing officers of the third parties. He is in no position to arrive at statutory ‘satisfaction’ in all the cases as to whether the name of the third party in the IVMS data is genuine/germane or otherwise. The decisions relied on by the petitioner proceed on the basis that the use of the non-obstante clause in Section 153C would limit the choice of the Assessing Officers only to a search assessment. Certainly satisfaction cannot be thrust upon the Assessing Officer. The requirement of recording of ‘satisfaction’ requires independent application of mind by the officer upon his detailed examination of all relevant material. These writ petitions are dismissed. The petitioner is permitted to file appeals, if it so desires, before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) agitating merits of the matter.
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