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TMI Blog2016 (1) TMI 1336X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eing disposed of by a consolidated order. The assessee raised the following grounds of appeal in ITA No. 1720/Del/2013 for AY 2003-04: i. That on the facts and circumstances of the case and the provisions of law the ld. CIT Appeal has failed to appreciate that initiation of proceeding u/s 153C and the assessment order passed by the ld. AO u/s 143(3)/153C is illegal, bad in law and wrong on facts. ii. That on the facts and circumstances of the case and the provision of law the Ld. CIT Appeal has failed to appreciate that the proceeding initiated under section 153C including issue of notice under section 153C is time barred and as such the assessment order passed in consequence thereof also become barred by limitation. iii. That the L ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed is legal in nature and can be raised at any time in appellate proceedings. 3.1 Ld. DR, on the other hand, opposed the admission of the above additional ground. We find that the additional ground raised on appeal is purely legal in nature and goes to the root of the matter. It is settled law that legal ground can be raised at any time in appellate proceedings; therefore, we admit this additional ground raised by the assessee. 4. The facts in brief are that the original return of income under Section 139(1) of the Act was filed declaring loss of Rs. 7521/-. A search and seizure operation under Section 132 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short "the Act") was carried out in the case of M/s Wing Pharmaceuticals and Associated cases on 14.0 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er, the assessee filed an appeal before the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and challenged the initiation of proceedings under Section 153C legally as well as contested the additions made by the Assessing Officer. The assessee could not succeed before the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), both on legal grounds as well as on merit of the additions. Aggrieved, the assessee is before us with the present appeal. 5. At the time of hearing of the case, in respect of ground No. 2 , the learned Authorized Representative submitted that the proceedings initiated under Section 153C in the case of the assessee are barred by limitation. He brought our attention to the provisions of Section 153C and particularly to the first pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urisdiction to make assessment for the year under consideration. The learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Departmental Representative), in respect of the ground No. 2, submitted that the provisions of the section should be so construed as not the defeat the purpose for which same are introduced. He relied on the judgement of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Tarulata Shyam reported in 108 ITR 345. 6. We have heard the rival submission on this issue and also perused the judgment dated 30th October, 2015 of the Hon'ble jurisdictional High Court in the case of CIT Vs RRJ Securities in ITA No. 164/2015 and ITA No. 175 to 177/2015. For ready reference, the relevant para of the judgment is reproduced as under: "24. As discussed hereinbefore, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... son searched, assessments in relation to six previous years preceding the year in which the search takes place can be reopened but in case of any other person, who is not searched but his assets are seized from the searched person, the period for which the assessments could be reopened would be much beyond the period of six years. This is so because the date of handing over of assets/documents of a person, other than the searched person, to the AO would be subsequent to the date of the search. This, in our view, would be contrary to the scheme of Section 153C(1) of the Act, which construes the date of receipt of assets and documents by the AO of the Assessee (other than one searched) as the date of the search on the Assessee. The rationale ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s already construed the relevant provisions, we are not in agreement with the learned CIT (DR) to take recourse of the case relied upon by him. Following the above judgment of the Hon'ble High Court in RRJ Securities (supra) the date of handing over of seized material record by the Assessing Officer of search upon party to the Assessing Officer of the assessee would be 2nd November, 2009. Further, following the judgment, the six assessment years for which assessment/re-assessment could be made u/s 153C of the Act would also have to be construed as from the reference date of handing over of assets/documents to the Assessing Officer of the assessee. In the case in hand, it would be the date of recording satisfaction under section 153 of the A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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