TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (7) TMI 1498
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....t referred to the Dispute resolution panel is without jurisdiction: a. The assessing officer erred in passing the draft assessment order without appreciating the fact that since the appellant had not filed the return of income hence provisions of section 144C(1) of the Act are not applicable to the appellant as draft assessment is to be forwarded only in case any variation in the income or loss returned b. The appellant is not subjected to transfer pricing provisions and no reference to transfer pricing officer has been made in his case under section 92CA of the Act for the relevant year. As no order is passed in the case of the assessee by transfer pricing officer u/s. 92CA(3) of the Act, the assessee is not an "eligible assessee" u/s. 144C(15) of the Act. The assessee is not an "eligible assessee" as he was a non resident in the relevant assessment year and did not fall within the ambit of clause b ii) of the section 144C(15) since the amendment was made w.e.f 01.04.2020. Therefore, reference to dispute resolution panel u/s. 144C (1) of the Act by the AO of the draft assessment order itself is without jurisdiction, uncalled for and such draft order along with re....
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....submission made by the assessee called for a remand report from the Assessing Officer. The Assessing Officer submitted two remand reports dated 09.11.2022 and 07.11.2022. The Assessing Officer noted in the remand report dated 07.11.2022 that the assessee had filed a self-made excel sheet of payment, incomplete loan statement and not provided any other relevant supporting documents. Further, it was noted by the Assessing Officer that the assessee had submitted UK tax return for calendar year 2012 and 2013 and loan statement. The Assessing Officer did not find it to be satisfactory as according to him, the assessee had still not provided other relevant documents such as employment certificate clearly stating source of income, incomplete bank statement in which loan amount was received, sanction letter of loan as issued by bank, letter of disbursement of loan etc. with any other relevant valid documents to sustain his claim. 4.1. The Assessing Officer in his remand report dated 07.11.2022 submitted as under:- 7.6 Now assessee has submitted only UK tax return and loan statement. The same was examined but not found acceptable as assessee has still not produced complete bank ....
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....e by him in the draft assessment order. 7. Aggrieved with the order of the Assessing Officer, the assessee is in appeal before us. 7.1. At the outset, the ld. AR referred to the petition dated 19.01.2024 requesting to admit additional evidence, which is reproduced as under:- "The hearing of the captioned appeal is fixed before the Hon'ble 'D' Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on January 24, 2024. In this connection, the Petitioner, humbly submits as under: The captioned appeal has been filed against the order passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle Int Tax, 1(3)(1), New Delhi ("the AO") dated January 21, 2023 passed pursuant to the directions of the Dispute Resolution Panel - 2, New Delhi ('the DRP') given vide order dated December 22, 2022 passed under section 144C(5) of the Income Tax Act ("the Act"). In the said order, the AO has assessed the Total Income of the Petitioner at Rs. 5,17,67,531/- after making an addition of Rs. 5,17,67,531/- under section 69 of the Act. The Petitioner is filing this petition for admission as additional evidence of documents filed as part of its paper book titled ....
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.... to counter the allegations in the impugned order. Further, the Petitioner submits that the said documents go to the root of the matter and are essential for the Petitioner to present its case in an effective manner so that true and fair justice can be granted to the Petitioner in the captioned matter. Thus, the Petitioner humbly prays the Hon'ble Tribunal to kindly exercise its power under Rule 29 of Income-tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963 and admit the aforesaid additional evidence as there is substantial cause to admit the same and/or sufficient opportunity was not provided to the Petitioner to adduce evidence during reassessment proceedings. In view of the foregoing and since all the documentary evidences go to the very root of the issue raised in the impugned order and are vital in explaining the Petitioner's case and in the interest of justice, the petitioner hereby prays that your Honours may kindly admit and consider the aforesaid evidences, as stated above, so as to meet the ends of justice." 7.2. We have carefully considered the same and we are satisfied that the above documentary evidences go to the very root of the issue raised in the im....
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....e Branch, Mumbai (placed at page nos.397 to 401 of the paper book) all other payment were sourced from United Kingdom. Sr. No Particulars Page Nos. Certified Photocopies of :- 1. Notice dated February 02, 2022 u/s 142(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 329-331 2. Chart showing the payments made for the purchase of Immovable Property 332 3. Copy of the receipts of the payments made to M/s. Lokhandwala Kataria Constructions Pvt. Ltd. 333-349 Documents in relation to payment of Rs. 39,00,000/- 4. Copy of Bank Statement of Mr. Udit Pal Garg held in Bank of Baroda (UK) Limited having A/c No. 9410-01-91005293 showing payment to M/s. Lokhandwala Kataria Constructions Pvt. Ltd. 350 5. Copy of Bank Statement of Mr. Udit Pal Garg held in Halifax having A/c No. 00068041 showing payment received by Mr. Udit Pal Garg from Mr. Nilesh 351-352 6. Screenshot of Profile of Mr. Udit Pal Garg showing that he is Co-Founder & Managing Director of the Wealthfusion Private Wealth Management Company 353 7. Screenshot of UK Gov. website showing Information of Mr. Udit Pal Garg 354-355 8. R....
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....ssessee Shri Nilesh Purshottam Ghodasara and his brother, Shri Dhimantai Purushottam Patel. Further, on perusal of the details of the payments as per Table-1, submitted by the assessee and reproduced in para no.8 of this order and the supporting documents filed by the assessee on page no.333 to 405 of the paper book-II, it is seen that the payment for said flat has been made by the assessee Nilesh Purshottam Ghodasara, Shri Udit Pal Garg, a British National (investment advisor of the assessee), M/s Estate Cares c/o- Estate Cares, C5/51, East of Kailash, New Delhi -110065, Mrs. Bharti Dhimantrai Patel (sister-in-law of the assessee and wife of the Coowner Mr. Dhimantrai Purshottam Patel, who is British National and UK passport holder) and through housing loan account (Sanctioned Amount- Rs. 453 lakhs by Punjab National Bank, Ville Parle, Mumbai Branch)(page nos.395-396 of the paper book). The said details of payments in Table-1 in this order and the supporting documents filed by the assessee on page no.333 to 405 of the paper book-II have been perused and verified very carefully and the details of sources of investment explained therein have been found to be correct. We also observe....
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....ing Rs.98,50,000/- was paid by Mrs. Bharti Dimantrai Patel from the aforesaid bank account on 30.05.2014 Further, the documents at page no.367372 of the paper book show that Mrs. Bharti Dimantrai Patel is a British Citizen and UK passport holder. 5 95,69,604/ 26.06.2014 Payment was made by Mrs. Bharti Dhimantrai Patel (sister-in-law of the assessee and wife of the Co-owner Mr. Dhimantrai Purshottam Patel through her bank account xxxx6801 Bank of Baroda (UK) Ltd., London Main Branch (pageno.363 of the paper book) This amount (Rs.95,69,604/- along with other amount mentioned at Sr. No.20 in Table-1 in this order totalling Rs.96,66,250/- was paid by Mrs. Bharti Dimantrai Patel from the aforesaid bank account on 25.06.2014 Further, the documents at page no.367- 372 of the paper book show that Mrs. Bharti Dimantrai Patel is a British Citizen and UK passport holder. 6. 2,68,77,732/- 18.07.2014 15.09.2014 28.11.2014 08.01.2015 and 10.02.2015 The payment of Rs. 2,68,77,732/- (Rs.2,16,35,275 + Rs.21,29,995/- + Rs.4,91,467/- + Rs.26,21,000/-) was paid through PNB Housing Loan A/c No. XXXX11966, Ville Parle Branch, Mumbai (plac....
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....3. Further, the submissions of the assessee that the payment of Rs. 5 lakhs Rs. 10 lakhs on 28.11.2013 and 10.02.2014 were paid in Financial Year 2013-14 and therefore cannot be a subject matter of addition in the case of the assessee for AY 2015-16 is found to be acceptable. The fact that the above payment of Rs. 15,00,000/- was not made in FY 2014-15 was also confirmed by M/s Lokhandwala Kataria Construction Pvt. Ltd.. The same is mentioned in the notice u/s 142(1) of the Act dated 02.02.2022 as the said amount is shown as opening balance as on 01.04.2014 (placed at page no.4 of the paper book). 10.4. Therefore, considering the facts in totality, we are satisfied that the addition of Rs. 5,17,67,531/- made by the Assessing Officer u/s 69 of the Act is not sustainable and the same is deleted. Grounds no.5 of the appeal of the assessee is allowed. 11. In view of the fact that ground no.5 of the appeal of the assessee has been allowed, the other grounds of appeal became academic and are left open in this case. 12. In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed. Order pronounced in the open court on 22nd July, 2025 ============= Document 1 Mr. Nilesh Ghodasara ....