TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (4) TMI 239
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....he petitioner under section 148 of the Income-tax Act. (d) Issue any other writ, order or direction, which this hon'ble court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. (e) Award costs of the petition to the petitioner." 2. The brief facts of the case giving rise to the present petition are that the petitioner was a partnership firm and engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of woollen carpets. The petitioner was also exporter and was exporting goods outside the country and being exporter the petitioner was entitled for the exemption under section 80HHC of the Income-tax Act (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). For the assessment years 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2002-03, the petitioner had filed income-tax returns along with audit reports under section 44AB of the Act before the Income-tax Officer, Ward-I, Varanasi. For the assessment years 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2001-02, the petitioner had disclosed nil income and for the assessment year 2002-03, the petitioner had disclosed net income at Rs.2,20,410. The returns for all the assessment years had been processed and accepted summarily under section 143(1) (a) and intimations in this regard had be....
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....,05,900 2,03,418 2001-02 10,64,670 12,80,700 2,16,030 2002-03 17,94,366 21,58,400 3,64,034 2003-04 16,55,170 19,91,000 3,58,830 4. On the basis of the Departmental Valuer's report and the alleged differences in the investment in the construction, the assessing authority had made an addition in the assessment year 2001-02 and had also issued notices under section 148 of the Act for the assessment years 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2002-03 which are the subject-matter of challenge. The reasons recorded for the issue of notices for all the aforesaid years are common. 5. Heard Sri R. R. Agrawal, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Shambhu Chopra, learned standing counsel. 6. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that for the purposes of estimate of costs of construction, the matter could not be referred to the Departmental Valuation Cell. He submitted that the matter could be referred to the Valuation Cell for the determination of value of the property for the purposes of capital gains under section 55A of the Act. He submitted that the assessing authority co....
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....bmitted that section 142A of the Act can be invoked for the purposes of section 69 which says investment in the movable or immovable property and the investment made in construction of the building is covered under section 69 of the Act and, therefore, for the purposes of determination of the investment in the construction of building, the reference could be made to the Valuation Cell under section 142A of the Act. He submitted that section 142A has been brought in the statute by the Finance (No. 2) Act of 2004 with effect from November 15, 1972, to circumvent the decision of the apex court in the case of Smt. Amiya Bala Paul v. CIT [2003] 262 ITR 407. In support of the contention he relied upon the decisions of the Uttarakhand High Court in the case of Smt. Kiran Lata v. ITAT reported in [2009] 318 ITR 44, in the case of Amit Estate Organizer v. ITO reported in [2009] 316 ITR (AT) 190 (Ahd), in the case of Bawa Abhai Singh v. Deputy CIT reported in [2002] 253 ITR 83 (Delhi) and in the case of Vippy Processors P. Ltd. v. CIT reported in [2001] 249 ITR 7 (MP). He submitted that the decision of the Delhi High Court in the case of CIT v. Aar Pee Apartments P. Ltd. [2009] 319 ITR 276 d....
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....ade, the Assessing Officer may require the Valuation Officer to make an estimate of such value and report the same to him. (2) The Valuation Officer to whom a reference is made under sub-section (1) shall, for the purposes of dealing with such reference, have all the powers that he has under section 38A of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957). (3) On receipt of the report from the Valuation Officer, the Assessing Officer may, after giving the assessee an opportunity of being heard, take into account such report in making such assessment or reassessment: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply in respect of an assessment made on or before the 30th day of September, 2004, and where such assessment has become final and conclusive on or before that date, except in cases where a reassessment is required to be made in accordance with the provisions of section 153A. Explanation.-In this section, 'Valuation Officer' has the same meaning as in clause (R) of section 2 of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957). 69. Unexplained investments.-Where in the financial year immediately preceding the assessment year the assessee has made investments which are not recorded in ....
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.... said to be without the authority of law. The valuation report disclosed the higher investments in the constructions which have not been disclosed in the books of account. Thus, there was escaped assessment. We are of the view that the Departmental valuer's report constitutes material for entertaining a belief of escaped income in the years under consideration. The Delhi High Court in the case of Bawa Abhai Singh v. Deputy CIT [2002] 253 ITR 83 has held that the report of the District Valuation Officer constitutes the reasons for entertaining a belief about escapement of an income. Similar view has been taken by the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the case of Vippy Processors P. Ltd. v. CIT [2001] 249 ITR 7. In the case of Asst. CIT v. Rajesh Jhaveri Stock Brokers P. Ltd. [2007] 291 ITR 500 (SC), the apex court has held as follows (page 511): "Section 147 authorises and permits the Assessing Officer to assess or reassess income chargeable to tax if he has reason to believe that income for any assessment year has escaped assessment. The word 'reason' in the phrase 'reason to believe' would mean cause or justification. If the Assessing Officer has cause or justifi....