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TMI Blog2015 (3) TMI 1257X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s 151 was not obtained. 2. Ld. A.R. at the outset argued about the legal grounds and took up this issue and invited our attention to the reasons recorded placed in paper book page 2 and submitted that Addl. CIT, Range 6, New Delhi had merely put his signatures and had not applied his mind and simply mechanically signed the copy of reasons recorded. It was submitted that there is no proper satisfaction recorded as envisaged u/s 151 of the Act. Reliance was placed in this respect on the case law of Shri Hira Chand Kanuga, in I.T.A.No. 4261 & 4262/Mum/2012 pronounced by Mumbai Tribunal on 27.02.2015. 3. Ld. D.R. on the other hand submitted that the signatures put up by higher authorities itself proves that the authorities had applied his min ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssary harassment of the assessee. They are sword for the Revenue and shield for the assessee. Section 151 guards that the sword of Sec. 147 may not be used unless a superior officer is satisfied that the AO has good and adequate reasons to invoke the provisions of Sec. 147. The superior authority has to examine the reasons, material or grounds and to judge whether they are sufficient and adequate to the formation of the necessary belief on the part of the assessing officer. If, after applying his mind and also recording his reasons, howsoever briefly, the Commissioner is of the opinion that the AO's belief is well reasoned and bonafide, he is to accord his sanction to the issue of notice u/s. 148 of the Act. In the instant case, we find ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... piry of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year. The power vested in the Commissioner to grant or not to grant approval is coupled with a duty. The Commissioner is required to apply his mind to the proposal put up to him for approval in the light of the material relied upon by the Assessing Officer. The said power cannot be exercised casually and in a routine manner. We are constrained to observe that in the present case there has been no application of mind by the Additional Commissioner before granting the approval". 13. The observations of the Hon'ble High Court are very much relevant in the instant case as in the present case also the Commissioner has simply mentioned "approved" to the report submitted by the conce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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