The ITAT allowed the assessee's appeal and deleted the penalty...

The ITAT allowed the assessee's appeal and deleted the penalty imposed under section 271AAB regarding seized cash during a search operation. The Tribunal found that the AO failed to satisfy the statutory requirements under section 271AAB. The ITAT distinguished the present case from Pr. CIT v. Sandeep Chandak, noting that the Revenue's reliance on Veena Estate Pvt. Ltd. was misplaced as that decision did not specifically address search penalties under section 271AAB. The Tribunal also observed that the main appeal in the Veena Estate case remained pending before the Bombay HC. Consequently, the impugned penalty was deleted due to the AO's failure to fulfill the necessary conditions under section 271AAB.

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