NEELAM DHINGRA, NEW DELHI V. DCIT, CIRCLE1(1)(1), INTL. TAXATION, NEW DELHI

ITA 4725/DEL/2017

• Counselvise Citation: [2022] 106 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 8744 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 4 year(s) 10 month(s) 16 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 09-06-2022
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: E
• Assessment Year: 2007-2008
• Appeal Filed On: 23-07-2017
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Section: 147; 148; 43; 48; 72

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “E” DELHI BEFORE SHRI KUL BHARAT, JUDICIAL MEMBER & SHRI PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER I.T.A. No.4725/DEL/2017 Assessment Year 2007-08 Neelam Dhingra, (through husband and legal heir- Vinod Dhingra) P-36, Tara Apartment, Alaknanda, Kalkaji, New Delhi. DCIT, Circle-1(1)(1), International Taxation, New Delhi. TAN/PAN: AAEPD0040R (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by: Shri R.S. Ahuja, CA Respondent by: Shri Bhopal Singh, Sr.D.R. Date of hearing: 16 03 2022 Date of pronouncement: 06 2022 O R D E R PER PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, A.M.: Th e cap tio n ed ap peal h as b een fil ed b y th e Assessee ag ain st th e o rd er o f th e Co mmiss io n er o f In co me Tax (Appeals)-XLII, New Delh i (‘CIT( A)’ in sh o rt) d ate d 2 5 .0 5 .2 01 7 arisi n g fro m th e assess men t o rd er d ated 1 7 .0 3 .20 15 p assed by th e Assessin g Officer (AO) un d er Sectio n 1 43 (3 ) r.w. Sectio n 1 4 7 o f th e In co me Tax Act, 1 9 6 1 (th e Act) co n cern in g AY 2 0 06 -07 . 2 . Th e g ro u nd s o f ap p eal ra ised b y th e assesse e read s as u n d er: “ (A ) T h a t o n t h e f a c t s & c i rc u m st a n c e s o f t h e c a s e t h e l e a rn e d D CI T U / s. 1 4 7 / 1 4 3 ( 3 ) a n d L e a rn e d CI T (A )- 4 2 U / s 2 5 0 e r re d i n : i ) R e o p e n i n g t h e c a s e U / s 1 4 8 o f t h e I n c o m e T a x Ac t , 1 9 6 1 . I.T.A. No.4725/Del/2017 2 i i ) R e o p e n i n g t h e c a se U / s 1 4 8 o n t h e b a si s o f a l l e g e d d o c u m e n t s e i ze d f r o m t h e J p r e m i s e s o f a p e r so n (S h. Na r e sh G u p t a ) r e f e r re d t o i n S e c . 1 5 3 A . i i i ) U n d e r st a n d i n g t h e n a t u r e o f t h e d o c u m e n t (U n d at e d , U n si g n e d a n d i n c o m p l e t e d r a f t d e e d ) o n t h e b a si s o f wh i c h t h e c a se wa s r e o p e n e d U / s 1 4 8 . i v ) R e o p e n i n g t h e c a s e o n t h e sa m e m a t t e r o f Ca p i t al G a i n s w h i c h h a s b e e n c o n si d e r e d i n t h e A ss e s se e ' s o w n c a s e U / s 1 4 3 (3 ) a s s e ss m e n t b y o rd e r d a t e d 2 4 . 1 2 . 2 0 0 9 a n d b y \ t h e CI T (A )- X X I X , Ne w D e l h i i n a p p e a l o rd e r n o . 6 2 / 0 9 - 1 0 d a t e d 3 1 . 0 5 .2 0 1 1 . v ) M a k i n g a n a d d i t i o n o f R s . 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 / - i n t h e C a pi t a l G a i n s o n a c c o u n t o f E x t r a m o n e y re c e i v e d o n s a l e o f p r o p e r t y, wh i c h i s c o n t ra ry t o t h e f a c t s a n d p r e v a i l i n g l a w . v i ) N o t a g re e i n g wi t h t h e A s s e s s e e t h a t t h e d o c u m e nt f o u n d i n t h e c o m p u t e r o f S h . Na r e s h G u p t a i s a ' D u m b D o c u m e n t ' wh i c h i s t h e re s u l t o f a c u t a n d p a st e j o b i n h i s c o m p u t e r a n d no c o g n i z a n c e sh o u l d b e t a k e n t h e r e o f . v i i ) M a k i n g t h e a d d i t i o n k n o wi n g t h a t o n t h e d a y w he n t h e a s s e ss e e w a s t o h a v e re c e i v e d c a sh , s h e wa s n o t i n I n d i a a n d m a k i n g a n a d d i t i o n w i t h o u t a n y o t h e r c o r r o b o r a t i v e e v i d e n c e su c h a s a c c e p t a n c e b y t h e b u y e r i . e . I . G B u i l d e r s an d P ro m o t e r s (P ) L t d . o f c a sh a m o u n t s p a i d o r a c c e p t a n c e o f g e n ui n e n e s s o f d o c u m e n t s b y M r . N a r e sh G u p t a . (B ) T h a t t h e p ri n c i p l e s o f N a t u r a l J u s t i c e h a v e b e en v i o l a t e d a s n e i t h e r a n y o p p o rt u n i t y t o c r o s s e x a m i n e M r . Na r e sh G u p t a h a s b e e n g i v e n t o u s n o r h i s st a t e m e n t b e e n p r o v i d e d t o u s. (C ) T h a t n o c o g n i z a n c e h a s b e e n t a k e n b y t h e L d . D CI T a n d L d . CI T (A ) o f t h e re p l y g i v e n b y M / s . I G B u i l d e r s a n d P r o m o t e r s (P ) L t d . a n d t h e f a c t t h a t Na r e s h G u p t a h a s h i m s e l f s t at e d i n w ri t i n g I.T.A. No.4725/Del/2017 3 t o t h e L d . D CI T t h a t S o m e t i m e s c u t p a s t e o f v a ri o u s d o c u m e n t s i n t h e c o m p u t e r sh o w s d i sc r e p a n c y a n d n o t sh o w s t ru e ch a r a c t e r o f t h e d o c u m e n t s . (D ) T h e A s se s s m e n t a s f ra m e d b y t h e A O i s i l l e g a l as n o n o t i c e h a s b e e n s e rv e d b y h i m o n t h e l e g a l h e i r s o f t h e a ss e s s e e wh o i s d e c e a s e d a n d i n f o r m a t i o n t h e r e o f wa s g i v e n t o A O o f t h e f a c t s a l o n g wi t h d e a t h c e rt i f i c a t e . ” 3 . Wh en th e mat ter was cal led fo r h ea rin g , th e ld . co u n sel fo r th e assesse e in ter a lia p o in ted ou t th at th e assess ee h erein was a n o n resid en t. Sh e d ied o n 01 .1 0 .20 1 0 . Th e in fo rma tio n o f h er d eath alo n g with d eath cer ti fica te wa s su b mit ted to th e Assessin g Officer v id e l et ter d ated 2 6 .1 2 .20 1 4 as well as 2 3 .0 2 .2 0 15 . Th e Assessin g Offic er also ack n o wled g es th e rec eip t o f let ter d a ted 2 6 .1 2 .20 1 4 in lett er F.No . DCIT/In t l. T ax /c ircl e-1 (1 )(1 )/2 0 14 -15 d ated 3 0 .0 1 .2 01 5 . Ho wev er, d esp ite su ch fac t b ro u g ht to th e n o tice o f th e Asse ssin g Officer, n o n o tice was is sued on th e leg al h eir. All th a t h e h as d o n e is th at h e h as fra med the imp u g n ed assess men t d at ed 1 7 .0 3 .20 1 5 in th e n ame o f l eg al h eirs, Sh ri Vin o d Dh in g ra. This ap art , th e n o tic e u n d er Sectio n 1 43 (2 ) d ated 2 0 .0 2 .20 1 5 was issu ed in th e n ame o f th e d ece ased , i.e ., Ms. Neela m Dh in g ra. A no tice u n d er Sect io n 1 42 (1) was simil arly issu ed in th e n a me o f th e d ece ased a fter h er d ea th . On t h ese fac ts, it was co n ten d ed th at n o tic e fo r reo p en in g o f assessmen t an d co n tin u atio n o f re assess men t p ro ceed in g s th ereafter was carr ied o u t in th e n ame o f th e d eceased p erso n in d irect con tra d ict io n to th e ju d g men ts ren d ered in Ru pa Shya m Su n d er Dh uma tka r vs. ACIT (2 0 2 0 ) 4 2 0 ITR 2 56 (Bo m), Ala melu Veera p p a n vs. ITO (2 0 1 8 ) 2 5 7 ta xman n .co m 72 (Ma d ), S u mit Ba lkri sh n a Gu p ta vs. ACIT (2 0 1 9 ) 4 1 4 ITR 2 9 2 (Bo m), S a vita Ka p i la vs. A CIT (2 0 2 0 ) I.T.A. No.4725/Del/2017 4 4 2 6 ITR 50 2 /27 3 Ta xma n 1 4 8 (Del), ITO vs. La te S h ri R a m Ku mar (ITA 6 4 9 5 /Del/2 0 1 6 Ben ch F) d a ted 2 7 .1 2 .2 01 7 . It was th u s u rg ed th at th e re-assess men t o rd er p assed in th e n ame o f d eath p erso n cann o t b e p ro tected u n d er an y circu mstan c es an d th us req u ires to b e q u as h ed . 4 . Ld . DR fo r th e Rev en u e reli ed u p o n th e o rd er o f th e au th o ritie s b elo w an d co u ld no t co n tro v ert th e fa ctu al p o sit io n p o in ted o u t o n b eh al f o f th e ass essee . 5 . We h av e care fu l ly co n sid ered th e r i v al su b mission s. In th e lig h t o f s ev eral ju d icia l p reced en ts p o in ted o u t o n b eh alf o f th e assesse e as n o ted in p arag rap h n o .3 h erein ab o v e, i t i s tr ite th a t n o tice fo r reo p enin g o f assess men t u n d er Sectio n 1 48 d ated 2 5 .0 3 .20 1 4 ag ain st d ead p erson is in v alid . Th e Assess i n g Officer h as fu rth er a ccen t u ated th e leg a l fa l lacy b y co n tinu in g to p ro ceed ag ain st th e d ead p erso n by issu in g n o tice u n d er Sectio n 1 4 3 (2) an d Sectio n 1 4 2 (1) o f th e Ac t. Th e re-assess men t o rd er p assed p u rsu an t to su ch in v alid n o tices fo r th e p u rp o ses of reo p en in g th e assess men t an d fo r assu mp t io n o f ju risd ic tio n fo r carry i n g ou t th e assess men t is th u s ap p aren tly b ad in l aw an d h as n o leg a l san c ti ty . Th e re-assess men t o rd er is req u ired to b e q u ash ed at th e th resh o ld . Hen ce, we d o n o t co n sid er i t n ec essary to g o in to an y o th er g riev an ce rais ed o n b eh alf o f th e ass essee . 7 . In th e resu l t, th e a p p eal o f th e asses s ee is a l lo wed . Order pronounced in the open Court on 10/06/2022. Sd/- Sd/- [KUL BHARAT] [PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA] JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER DATED: /06/2022 Prabhat