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2023 (7) TMI 1399 - ITAT DELHIAssessment order passed u/s 153A - valid approval granted u/s 153D or not? - as argued statutory approval granted by the ld. Addl. Commissioner u/s. 153D of the Act enabling the ld. AO to complete the search assessment, was a mere mechanical approval without due application of mind on the part of the ld. Addl. CIT. - HELD THAT:- Addl. CIT has accorded approval for the said draft assessment orders on the very same day i.e., on 30.12.2018 for seven assessment years in the case of the assessee and for seven assessment years in the case of Smt. Neetu Nayyar. It is also pertinent in this regard to refer to pages 68 and 69 of the paper book which contains information obtained by Smt. Neetu Nayyar from Central Public Information Officer who is none other than the ld. Addl. Commissioner of Income-tax, Central Range-5, New Delhi, under Right to Information Act, wherein, it reveals that the Addl. CIT had granted approval for 43 cases on 30.12.2018 itself. This fact is not in dispute before us. Of these 43 cases, as evident from paper book which contains the approval u/s. 153D, 14 cases pertained to the assessee herein and Smt. Neetu Nayyar. The remaining cases may belong to some other assessees, which information is not available before us. In any event, whether is it humanly possible for an approving authority like ld. Addl. CIT to grant judicious approval u/s. 153D of the Act for 43 cases on a single day is the subject matter of dispute before us. Further, section 153D provides that approval has to be granted for each of the assessment year whereas, in the instant case, the ld. Addl. CIT has granted a single approval for all assessment years put together. Similar issue has been addressed in the case of PCIT vs. Anju Bansal [2023 (7) TMI 1214 - DELHI HIGH COURT] wherein, under similar circumstances, the Hon'ble jurisdictional High Court categorically held that statutory approval given by a quasi judicial authority without due application of mind as contemplated in section 153D of the Act would be fatal to the entire search assessment proceedings. We have no hesitation in holding that the approval u/s. 153D of the Act has been granted by the Addl. CIT in the instant case before us in a mechanical manner without due application of mind, thereby making the approval proceedings by a high ranking authority, an empty ritual. Such an approval has neither been mandated by the provisions of the Act nor endorsed - Hence, we find lot of force in the arguments advanced by the ld. AR in support of the additional ground raised for all the assessment years under consideration before us. Accordingly, the additional ground raised by the assessee is hereby allowed.
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