TMI Blog2018 (8) TMI 1310X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... related to such person and handing over of such books of account or documents seized to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person, there is an additional requirement that the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person shall proceed against such other person in accordance with the provisions of section 153A only if he is satisfied that the books of account or documents seized have a bearing on the determination of the total income of such other person. As already discussed, both the seized documents belonging to the assessee in the present case as relied upon by the Assessing Officer in the satisfaction note were not having any bearing on the determination of the income of the assessee for the year under consideration. As a matter of fact, not only no addition on the basis of the said documents was made by the Assessing Officer in the assessment completed u/s 153C/143(3), but even there was no reference whatsoever to the said documents in the said assessment. The initiation of proceedings u/s 153C in the case of the assessee thus was bad in law and the assessment made by the Assessing Officer u/s 153C/143(3) in pursuance thereof is lia ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ality of land sold by the assessee was described as Gair Mumkin Pahar to show that the said land was rocky. He also found that the type of the said land was mentioned in the land revenue records as Kadimi Bajzar to show that it was a barren land. He also made enquiry with certain competent authorities which revealed that no activities such as plantation or grazing of animals were permissible on the said land. In this regard, reliance was placed by the Assessing Officer on Circular No.S.O.33/P.A.-2/1900/S.4/70 dated 11.02.1970 issued by the Forests and Animal Husbandry Department, Government of Haryana. He also relied on the letter dated 16.03.2011 issued by Tehsildar, Sohna informing that the land at Village Rojka Gujar, District- Sohna, Haryana was a barren land and as per the records, no crops were grown on it. After discussing elaborately these documentary evidences as well as other information collected by him, the Assessing Officer held that the land owned by the assessee at Village Rojka Gujar, District- Sohna, Haryana was a barren and rocky terrain, which was not cultivable and no plantation activities were also permissible on the said land. He held that the said land th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... round 8 of the appeal is also dismissed. 4. Ld. CIT(A) thus did not find merit in the submission made by the assessee and confirmed the addition of ₹ 31,92,187/- made by the Assessing Officer to the total income of the assessee on account of capital gain. Aggrieved by the order of the ld. CIT(A), the assessee has preferred this appeal before the Tribunal. 5. In addition to the grounds originally raised by the assessee in this appeal disputing the addition of ₹ 31,92,187/- made by the Assessing Officer and confirmed by the ld. CIT(A) on account of capital gain, the assessee has filed an application seeking admission of the following additional ground :- That the assessment order passed by learned assessing officer is without jurisdiction and void ab-initio and is liable to be quashed, as proceedings initiated under section 153C of the Act are without satisfying the statutory conditions envisaged under the Act and are thus, without jurisdiction. 6. Since the issue raised by the assessee in the additional ground is purely a legal issue and all the material facts necessary for adjudication of the same are available on record, we have admitted the same. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nded that these two seized documents relied upon by the Assessing Officer to initiate the proceedings u/s 153C may be belonging to the assessee but the same having no bearing on the determination of the total income of the assessee, these documents were not sufficient to validly initiate the proceedings u/s 153C in the case of the assessee. In support of this contention, he relied on the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 153C as well as the following judicial pronouncement :- (i) CIT vs. Veerprabhu Marketing Ltd., 388 ITR 574 (Calcutta). (ii) CIT vs. RRJ Securities Ltd., 380 ITR 612 (Delhi). (iii) CIT vs. Singhad Technical Education Society, 397 ITR 344 (SC). (iv) Pr.CIT vs. Index Securities (P.) Ltd., 86 taxmann.com 84 (Delhi). 9. Ld. DR, on the other hand, contended that only requirement for initiating the proceedings u/s 153C in the case of a person other than the person referred to in section 153A as per section 153C(1) is that the books of account or documents or assets seized or requisitioned are belonging to such person. She contended that as per specific provision contained in section 153C(1), there is no requirement that such books of account or docum ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the same clearly shows that the two seized documents were relied upon by the Assessing Officer to initiate the proceedings u/s 153C in the case of the assessee. The first seized document relied upon by the Assessing Officer was a copy of the current account of the assessee with Syndicate Bank and as submitted by the ld. counsel for the assessee, the said account was duly disclosed by the assessee in his return of income filed originally u/s 139. The second seized document contained certain details of the properties owned by the different group companies including the property owned by the assessee company at Village- Satbari, Mehrauli, New Delhi. The copies of both these seized documents are placed on record by the ld. counsel for the assessee at page no.12E to 12H of the Paper Book and as rightly contended by him, there is nothing incriminating that is found recorded in these documents. Even the ld. DR has not been able to contravent this position. She, however, has contended by relying on the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 153C that only requirement for initiating proceedings u/s 153C in the case of person other than the person referred to section 153A is that the do ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of account or documents seized belong to such person and such documents are handed over by him to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person. The relevant provisions of section 153C(1) as prevalent at the relevant time read as under :- Notwithstanding anything contained in section 139, section 147, section 148, section 149, section 151 and section 153, when the Assessing Officer is satisfied that any money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article or thing or books of account or documents seized or requisitioned belongs or belong to a person other than the person referred to in section 153A, then the books of account or documents or assets seized or requisitioned shall be handed over to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person. 14. The provisions of section 153C as extracted above have been subsequently amended by the Finance Act, 2015 w.e.f. 01.06.2015 and the provisions so amended read as under :- Assessment of income of any other person. 153C. ( 1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 139, section 147, section 148, section 149, section 151 and section 153, where the Assessing Officer is sat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 53A as per the pre-amended provisions was only that the books of account or documents seized belong to such person and the same are handed over to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person. The amended provisions of section 153A, however, have made a material change in this requirement inasmuch as in addition to the satisfaction of the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over a searched person about any books of account or documents seized being pertained to any other person or any information contained therein being related to such person and handing over of such books of account or documents seized to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person, there is an additional requirement that the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such other person shall proceed against such other person in accordance with the provisions of section 153A only if he is satisfied that the books of account or documents seized have a bearing on the determination of the total income of such other person. 16. It is relevant to note here that in the case of RRJ Securities Ltd. (supra) cited by the ld. counsel for the assessee and discussed on detail in the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere 2007-08 to 2011-12 and the notices u/s 153C were issued on 13.02.2013. 18. As already discussed, both the seized documents belonging to the assessee in the present case as relied upon by the Assessing Officer in the satisfaction note were not having any bearing on the determination of the income of the assessee for the year under consideration. As a matter of fact, not only no addition on the basis of the said documents was made by the Assessing Officer in the assessment completed u/s 153C/143(3), but even there was no reference whatsoever to the said documents in the said assessment. If this undisputed factual position is considered in the light of the ratio laid down by the Hon ble Delhi High Court in the case of CIT vs. RRJ Securities Ltd. (supra) and Pr.CIT vs. Index Securities (P.) Ltd. (supra), we find merit in the contention of the ld. counsel for the assessee that the jurisdictional requirement for initiating proceedings u/s 153C in the case of the assessee was not satisfied. The initiation of proceedings u/s 153C in the case of the assessee thus was bad in law and the assessment made by the Assessing Officer u/s 153C/143(3) in pursuance thereof is liable to be cance ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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