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Judgment
O R D E R
PER MADHUMITA ROY, J. M.:
The instant appeal filed by the Revenue and the Cross Objection filed by the assessee are directed against order dated 06.11.2025 passed by the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeals)/National Faceless Appeal Centre- Delhi arising out of the assessment order dated 10.03.2023 passed under Section 147 r.w. Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred as to "the Act") for the Assessment Year (A.Y.) 2015-16.
Facts: For A.Y. 2015-16 the assessee filed his ITR declaring income of Rs. 8,79,570/- and claimed exempt income of Rs. 1,03,28,480/-. The case was reopened under Section 147 on the basis of information received from the Investigation Wing that assessee had received accommodation entries of Rs. 71,41,000/- in the guise of sale of shares of penny stock company M/s Negotium International Trade Ltd. (formerly m/s Mahadushi International Trade Ltd. ). Notice under Section148 was issued on 21.07.2022. In response the assessee replied along with bank statements, contract notice, d-mat account, purchase/sale details of shares and claimed resultant long term capital gains as exempt under Section10(38) of the Act. The Assessing Officer held that transactions in shares were bogus accommodation entries. Shares were purchased in cash from a non-functional entity and sold at exorbitant price without any sound financial purpose. The AO treated a sum of Rs. 71,41,000/-as unexplained income u/s 68 taxable u/s 115BBE of the Actand added the same to the total income of the assessee. Assessment was completed u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 of the Act at assessed income of Rs. 80,20,570/-. In appeal the Ld. CIT(A)deleted the addition.
Aggrieved by the deletion of addition by the First Appellate Authority the Revenue is in appeal before the Tribunal. The assesse has filed cross-objection challenging the reopening itself.
The assessee has challenged reopening on the ground that reopening was barred by limitation under Section149(1). The AO failed to follow the procedure prescribed under Section148A(b) and 148A(d). Entire reassessment framed under Section147 r.w.s. 144B is invalid in law. Original notice u/s 148 was issued on 16.4.2021 under the unamended provision of the Act with prior approval u/s 151 dated 15.4.2021.
The assessment year involved is A.Y. 2015-16. Notice under Section148 of the Act for reopening of assessment was issued on 16.04.2021 The assessee’s counsel joins issue here to this effect that as per the concession on behalf of the Department recorded in para 19(f) in the case of UOI & Ors. V. Rajeev Bansal 469 ITR 46 (SC) the impugned notice under Section148 issued in assessee’s case for A.Y. 2015-16 beyond 31.03.2021 for reopening is liable to be struck down at the threshold.
Paragraph (f) reads as above reads as under:
“(f)The revenue concedes that for A.Y. 2015-16 all notices issued on or after April 1,2021 will have to be dropped as they will not fall for completion during the period prescribed under the Taxation and under Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of certain provisions) Act, 2020.”
Under these facts and circumstances of the matter, since concession has been recorded as above, admittedly the impugned assessment under Section 147 of the Act for A.Y 2015-16 is liable to be quashed and, therefore, we pass order accordingly.
In the result, Appeal filed by the Assessee is allowed.
The appeal preferred by the Revenue therefore, dismissed as having become in-fructuous.