TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (2) TMI 724
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....sed questions of law. "A.Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal is correct in narrowing down the scope of assessment u/s 153 A in respect of completed assessments by holding that only undisclosed income and undisclosed assets detected during the search could be brought to tax ? B. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal is correct in law in holding that the scope of Section 153 A is limited to assessing only search related income, thereby denying Revenue the opportunity of taxing other escaped income that comes to the notice of the Assessing Officer ? C. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was right in limiting the scope of Section 153 A only to undisclosed income when as per the section the Assessing Officer has to assess the total income of the six assessment years ? D.Whether the findings of the Tribunal that no incriminating material is found is perverse in as much as incriminating documents were found, though pertaining to the other Assessment Years which could be linked with the present Assessment Year ?" 2.1. A search was conducted....
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....d to assessing only search related income, thereby denying Revenue the opportunity of taxing other escaped income that comes to the notice of the Assessing Officer ? C. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Appellate Tribunal was right in limiting the scope of Section 153 A only to undisclosed income when as per the section the Assessing Officer has to assess the total income of the six assessment years ? D.Whether the findings of the Tribunal that no incriminating material is found is perverse in as much as incriminating documents were found, though pertaining to the other Assessment Years which could be linked with the present Assessment Year ?" 3.0. We have heard Shri Manish Bhatt, learned counsel for the Revenue and Shri S.N. Soparkar, learned counsel for the Assessee. At the outset, it is required to be noted that dispute is with respect to block assessment under Section 153 A of the Act for the AY 200001 to 200405. It is required to be noted that search was conducted on 10.02.2006. On the basis of the search conducted on 10.02.2006, some incriminating material was detected / found for the period of AY 200405 onwards for the assessment block p....
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.... of or pursuant to the search or requisition. However, instead of the earlier regime of block assessment whereby, it was only the undisclosed income of the block period that was assessed, section 153A of the Act seeks to assess the total income for the assessment year, which is clear from the first proviso thereto which provides that the Assessing Officer shall assess or reassess the total income in respect of each assessment year falling within such six assessment years. The second proviso makes the intention of the legislature clear as the same provides that assessment or reassessment, if any, relating to the six assessment years referred to in the subsection pending on the date of initiation of search under section 132 or requisition under section 132A, as the case may be, shall abate. Subsection (2) of section 153A of the Act provides that if any proceeding or any order of assessment or reassessment made under subsection (1) is annulled in appeal or any other legal provision, then the assessment or reassessment relating to any assessment year which had abated under the second proviso would stand revived. The proviso thereto says that such revival shall cease to have effect if s....
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....closed income, if any, unearthed during the search or requisition. In case where a pending reassessment under section 147 of the Act has abated, needless to state that the scope and ambit of the assessment would include any order which the Assessing Officer could have passed under section 147 of the Act as well as under section 153A of the Act. 19.On behalf of the appellant, it has been contended that if any incriminating material is found, notwithstanding that in relation to the year under consideration, no incriminating material is found, it would be permissible to make additions and disallowance in respect of all the six assessment years. In the opinion of this court, the said contention does not merit acceptance, inasmuch as, the assessment in respect of each of the six assessment years is a separate and distinct assessment. Under section 153A of the Act, an assessment has to be made in relation to the search or requisition, namely, in relation to material disclosed during the search or requisition. If in relation to any assessment year, no incriminating material is found, no addition or disallowance can be made in relation to that assessment year in exercise of powers under....