2021 (2) TMI 186

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....fer Pricing and thus the Assessing Officer ought to have passed an order of draft assessment in terms of Section 144C of the Act and not an order of regular assessment quantifying the final demand and imposing penalty. 2. At paragraph nos. 6 to 8 of the counter filed by the respondent, the Officer concedes to the position that what ought to have been passed in the circumstances is a draft and not final assessment order. The counter states as follows: '6. I submit that in reply to para 8, While assessing the total income of the assessee, the AO made additions on various issues, one of the issue being adjustment on transfer pricing During the course of assessment proceedings in u/s.143(3) of the Act, while uploading the draft ....

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....arms length price. 4. The scheme of assessment in terms of Section 144C statutorily requires the officer to pass a draft assessment order at the first instance and put the same to the assessee for its acceptance or for filing of objections before the Dispute Resolution Panel. The language of Section 144 C makes this position more than abundantly clear. 5. I draw support in this regard from a decision of this Court in Vijay Television V. Dispute Resolution Panel (369 ITR 113), confirmed by the Division Bench in 407 ITR 642 that reiterates the settled proposition that Section 144C sets forth a mandatory scheme of assessment and it is incumbent upon the Assessing Officer to pass an order of draft assessment at the first instance before p....