The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) allowed the assessee's...

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) allowed the assessee's appeal and directed the penalty u/s 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act to be deleted. The Assessing Officer had initiated penalty proceedings for concealment of income, while the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] passed the penalty order on the ground of furnishing inaccurate particulars of income without issuing a fresh show-cause notice. The ITAT held that since the penalty proceedings were initiated by the Assessing Officer on one ground (concealment) and the CIT(A) passed the order on another ground (inaccurate particulars) without commencing fresh proceedings, the penalty order was without jurisdiction and bad in law. The assessee's agreement to offer the income to buy peace and avoid litigation did not cure the jurisdictional defect in the penalty proceedings.