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TMI Blog2025 (1) TMI 976X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t petition to assailing the impugned notice on the ground that it is barred by limitation. He submits that the controversy involved in the present petition is covered in favour of the petitioner by the earlier decision of this court in Dinesh Jindal v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle 20, Delhi & Others: Neutral Citation: 2024: DHC:4554-DB. 3. Undisputedly the initiation of the reassessment proceedings pursuant to the search carried out on or after 01.04.2021 necessarily requires to be initiated within the time frame as specified under Section 153A of the Act, which was in force at the material time. The reassessments covered under Section 153C of the Act are required to be reckoned from the date on which the Assessing Officer (AO) of the searched person records the satisfaction that the books of account, or documents or the material belongs to the assessee (person other than the searched person) or contains information relating to such other person. 4. In terms of Section 153A of the Act, the maximum of ten years is required to be computed from the end of the assessment year relevant to the financial year in which such satisfaction note was recorded. This iss ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... reasons. It is an undisputed fact that the proceedings under Section 148 commenced on the basis of the impugned notice dated 30 March 2023. This date would be of seminal importance since the period of six AYs' or the "relevant assessment year" would have to be reckoned from the date when action was initiated to reopen the assessment pertaining to AY 2013-14. 11. The computation of the six or the block of ten AYs' was explained by us in Ojjus Medicare Private Limited in the following terms: "D. The First Proviso to Section 153C introduces a legal fiction on the basis of which the commencement date for computation of the six year or the ten year block is deemed to be the date of receipt of books of accounts by the jurisdictional AO. The identification of the starting block for the purposes of computation of the six and the ten year period is governed by the First Proviso to Section 153C, which significantly shifts the reference point spoken of in Section 153A (1), while defining the point from which the period of the "relevant assessment year" is to be calculated, to the date of receipt of the books of accounts, documents or assets seized by the jurisdictional AO of the non-searc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e sustained bearing in mind the timelines prescribed in Sections 149, 153A and 153C, as they existed prior to the commencement of Finance Act, 2021. This necessarily requires us to advert to the timeframes comprised in both Section 149 (1) (b) as well as Section 153C as it existed on the statute book prior to 01 April 2021, which undisputedly was the date from when Finance Act, 2021 came into effect. 13. While it is true that Section 153C and the procedure prescribed therein had ceased to be applicable post 31 March 2021, the First Proviso to Section 149 (1) does not appear to suggest that the First Proviso to Section 153C (1) would either become inapplicable or be liable to be ignored. Undisputedly, the First Proviso to Section 153C (1), by virtue of a legal fiction enshrined therein requires one to treat the date of initiation of search, and which otherwise constitutes the commencement point for a search assessment in the case of a non-searched party, to be construed as the date when books of accounts or documents and assets seized or requisitioned are transmitted to the AO of such "other person". Resultantly, the computation of the six preceding AYs' or the "relevant assessmen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 0. The learned counsel for the Revenue had also contended that the date of placing the material on the insight portal ought to be considered the date of search for the purposes of computing limitation under Section 153C of the Act. However, prima facie, the same is contrary to the decision in Dinesh Jindal v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle 20, Delhi & Others: (supra). It is to be noted that in said case, this court had reasoned that in case of a search after 31.03.2021, there would be no actual handover of material to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer and therefore it would not be permissible to revert to Section 153A of the Act for the purposes of computing the period of limitation from the date of the search. Prima facie, this reasoning would also hold good in case of assuming the date of placing information on insight portal as the date of search for the purposes of the proviso to Section 153C of the Act. 11. Uploading of information by the investigation wing of the Income Tax department would not be a substitute for recording of a satisfaction note by the AO of a searched person and handing over the assets, books of accounts or other material to the A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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