2016 (7) TMI 1559 - AT - Income Tax

Revision u/s 263 - by order passed u/s 127 CIT transferred the cases to the present Assessing Officer who completed the assessment on 30th March 2014 as they were getting barred by limitation at the returned income filed by the assessee without making any enquiry - AO may have made enquiry in these cases but due to paucity of time the present AO did not have time to look into the voluminous material and form opinion before making the assessment - HELD THAT - In short time from 29.03.2014 to 30.03.2014 it was practically impossible for the Assessing Officer to have examined the returns of the assessee vis- vis the details and particulars filed in support of the returns and form an opinion and frame a detailed assessment order on the issues in the returns of income. Therefore we have no hesitation in accepting the arguments of the ld. Departmental Representative and upholding the present orders passed u/s 263 of the Income-tax Act 1961 by the Commissioner of Income-tax. Thus the grounds of appeal in all the appeals under consideration are dismissed. - Decided against assessee.

Summary

Issues:
Challenging orders under Section 263 by the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax, Bhopal based on lack of enquiry by the Assessing Officer.

Analysis:
In the case, all eighteen appeals were filed by the assessees against the orders passed under Section 263 by the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax, Bhopal. The common issue in all these appeals was the challenge against the order passed under Section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, on 29.02.2016, by the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax- I, Bhopal. The authorized representative of the assessee argued that the cases were transferred to the Assessing Officer from an earlier Assessing Officer on 29.03.2014, and that due enquiries were conducted by the earlier Assessing Officer, allowing the present Assessing Officer to rely on those enquiries. The Departmental Representative, on the other hand, argued that the present Assessing Officer did not have enough time to examine the voluminous material before completing the assessment, leading to a lack of enquiry.

The Tribunal considered the arguments of both parties and examined the facts and circumstances of the case. It was noted that the time frame from 29.03.2014 to 30.03.2014 was insufficient for the Assessing Officer to thoroughly examine the returns of the assessee and form a detailed assessment order. Consequently, the Tribunal upheld the orders passed under Section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, by the Commissioner of Income Tax, dismissing the grounds of appeal in all the appeals under consideration.

In conclusion, all the appeals of the assessees were dismissed by the Tribunal, affirming the orders passed under Section 263 by the Commissioner of Income Tax. The decision was pronounced at the close of the hearing on Wednesday, the 14th day of July, 2016, at Indore.