TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (4) TMI 926
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....d order were issued in respect of the assessment year [AY] 2017-18. 2. The Assessee is essentially aggrieved by the reopening of its assessment in respect of AY 2017-18 pursuant to the impugned notice issued under Section 148 of the Act. Although the Assessee has raised several grounds for assailing the impugned notice, Mr Ved Jain, learned counsel appearing for the Assessee, confined the challenge in the present petition to the ground that the order passed under Section 148A (d) of the Act is beyond the scope of the notice issued under Section 148A (b) of the Act. However, he also reserved the Assessee's right to urge other grounds in appropriate proceedings. Thus, the principal question to be addressed is whether the impugned notice is liable to be set aside, as it is premised on an order dated 19.03.2024 passed under Section 148A (d) of the Act, which is beyond the scope of the notice under Section 148A (b) of the Act. FACTUAL CONTEXT 3. The Assessee is a partnership firm engaged in the business of operating a chain of departmental stores. The Assessee asserts that during the relevant assessment year (AY 2017-18), it was running seven departmental stores in Delhi and held the....
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.... of the Act, asking the Assessee to explain why the assessment in respect of AY 2017-18 should not be reopened and the income be reassessed under Section 147 of the Act. 10. Along with the notice dated 01.02.2024, the AO annexed certain information, which, according to the AO, suggested that the Assessee's income had escaped assessment. The information was related to certain transactions pertaining to financial year [FY] 2016-17. Essentially, the said information was: i) information relating to Tax Collected at Source [TCS] statement indicating the tax collected at source under Section 206CA of the Act; ii) cash deposited by the Assessee during the demonetization period; and iii) time deposits. 11. It was alleged that during the assessment year under consideration, the transactions, as mentioned, aggregating Rs. 17,80,23,257/-, remained unexplained and the same were not considered while passing the assessment order under Section 143 (3) of the Act. It was also alleged that these transactions were not disclosed in the income tax returns filed by the Assessee. The aforesaid notice was followed by another notice dated 14.02.2024 issued under Section 148A (b) of the Act. 12.....
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....information on three counts, which, according to the AO, suggested that the Assessee's income had escaped assessment. The first related to the TCS collected by various entities under Section 206CA of the Act. Admittedly, the deposit of the TCS was in respect of the transactions in relation to alcoholic liquor. The second information relates to deposit of Rs. 6,23,39,100/- (Rupees Six Crore Twenty-Three Lacs Thirty-Nine thousand and One hundred only) during the demonetization period. The information had also noted that a total cash deposit during the FY 2016-17 was Rs. 7,03,20,600/-. And the third information, relates to the time deposit of Rs. 10,00,000/-. 17. As noted above, the Assessee provided its explanation for the said information. In regard to the TCS, the Assessee explained that same was related to the transaction of purchase of liquor, which was duly accounted for in its books of account. In regard to the cash deposit, the Assessee had explained that the cash deposited during the demonetization period was the sale proceeds of goods. It is material to note that the Assessee disclosed that it had deposited Rs. 18,74,14,600/- during FY 2016-17 which was much larger than a s....
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....,03,980 c Total Cash Deposit in Bank from 09.11.2015 to 31.12.2025 86,79,200 2 a Total Cash Deposit in Bank in FY 2016-17 18,74,14,600 b Total Cash Deposit in Bank from 01.04.2016 to 08.11.2016 10,50,84,730 c Total Cash Deposit in Bank from 09.11.2016 to 31.12.2016 6,23,39,100 3 a % increase b/w 1 (a) and 2(a) 75.11% b % increase b/w 1 (b) and 2(b) 32.84% c % increase b/w 1 (c) and 2(c) 618.25% From the above observation, it can be clearly concluded that during the period of 9th Nov, 2016 to 30 Dec, 2016 huge cash was deposited in assessee's bank account which shows a drastic % increment (618.25%) in comparison to the cash deposited during the same period in previous year. Further, on perusal of information and reply furnished by the assessee, it is seen that during the financial year 2016-17, assessee has deposited total cash amounting to Rs.18,74,14,600/- in his account. Out of this Rs.12,50,75,500/- was deposited over a period of 10 months at an average of Rs.1.22 Cr. per month, whereas in period from 9th Nov, 2016 to 31 Dec, 2016 Rs.6,23,39,100/-was deposited as cash at an average o....