TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (6) TMI 911
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..... 3. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in appreciating that the assessment completed u/s. 147 is bad in law, being void ab initio, as no valid prior approval was obtained u/s. 148B before issuance of notice u/s. 148. 4. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law in upholding the validity of notice issued u/s. 148 despite the fact that neither the information or material forming the basis of the notice nor the satisfaction recorded by the AO, including the alleged Excel-sheet data and purported employee statements, were ever supplied to the appellant; thereby rendering the proceedings bad in law as the reassessment has been initiated and sustained without any cogent, admissible, or incriminating material establishing that the appellant made any cash payment. 5. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law in upholding the notice issued u/s. 148 despite the admitted incorrect assumption that the property was purchased from the searched party i.e., M/s Omaxe Group, whereas the actual seller was M/s Bhanu Infrabuild Pvt. Ltd. 6. That the learned CIT(A) has erred in law and on facts in upholding the reassessment proceedings, ignoring the fact that the jurisdictional no....
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....de through proper banking channels. It was explained that a substantial portion of the sale consideration was paid out of loan funds obtained from Swan Women Multipurpose Cooperative Society, which were directly disbursed to M/s Bhanu Infrabuild Private Limited through RTGS. The remaining amount of Rs. 91,130/- was also paid through banking channel in the subsequent year. Accordingly, it was contended that the entire transaction stood fully substantiated from documentary evidences available on record and, therefore, the unverified information allegedly gathered during the course of search proceedings could not be relied upon for making any adverse inference against the assessee. 3.3 The Assessing Officer, however, placed reliance upon Annexure A-35, stated to be a hard disk seized during the course of search proceedings conducted at 14, Local Shopping Centre, Kalkaji, New Delhi, being office premises of Omaxe Limited. Reliance was also placed upon Annexure A-27 from which certain Excel files were allegedly extracted. On the basis of such annexures, the Assessing Officer prepared a chart mentioning details of the alleged seized documents, their respective paths, premises and rema....
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....he basis of information referred to in Explanation 2(iv) to section 148., and notice under section 148 dated 31.03.2023 was issued after obtaining prior approval of the Ld. PCIT vide Reference No. 100000038618264.The Copy of the same is enclosed at page no.1 of PB. b) Your Honours will appreciate that the Assessing Officer has completed the impugned assessment under section 147 vide order dated 26.03.2024. However, no approval as mandated under section 148B of the Act has been obtained or recorded. The assessment order is completely silent on this aspect, which is evident from page 36 of the assessment order. c) Your Honours would further appreciate that once the assessment proceedings were initiated under section 148 by invoking Explanation 2, it was incumbent upon the Assessing Officer to obtain the mandatory approval of the specified authority, i.e., the Additional Commissioner/Additional Director/Joint Commissioner/Joint Director, before completing the assessment as required under the provisions of section 148B of the Act. In the present case, no such approval has been obtained. The relevant provision is reproduced for your ready reference:- 148B:-No ....
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....5] 7 SCC 234 (2005 (8) TMI 622 - SC), the Supreme Court has observed that if the requirements of a statute which prescribes the manner in which something is to be done are expressed in negative language, that is to say, if the statute enacts that it shall be done in such a manner and in no other manner, it has been laid down that those requirements are in all cases, absolute, and that neglect to attend to them will invalidate the whole proceeding. Further, In Vijay Narayan Thatte v. State of Maharashtra [2009] 9 SCC 92,(2009 (8) TMI 1177) the Supreme Court has held that it is well settled that when a statute is couched in negative language it is ordinarily regarded as peremptory and mandatory in nature. The Supreme Court, in some decisions has held that merely because a provision of law is couched in a negative language implying mandatory character, the same is not without exceptions. However, the present case deals with the interpretation of a taxing statute. It is well settled that a taxing statute has to strictly construed, therefore, from the language employed in section 153D of the Act, the requirement of obtaining the prior approval of the Joint Commissioner has to be regarde....
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.... Rani W/o Madan Lal Versus Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle, -1, Jalandhar • 2021 (4) TMI 986 - ITAT JABALPUR Smt. Sarika Mittal Versus Asstt. Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle-Katni, M.P. And (Vice-Versa) And Smt. Sarika Mittal And Others Versus Asstt. Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle-Katni, M.P. And Others 2. Submissions to Ground No.4 Ground No.4:-That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law in upholding the validity of notice issued u/s. 148 despite the fact that neither the information or material forming the basis of the notice nor the satisfaction recorded by the AO, including the alleged Excel-sheet data and purported employee statements, were ever supplied to the appellant; thereby rendering the proceedings bad in law as the reassessment has been initiated and sustained without any cogent, admissible, or incriminating material establishing that the appellant made any cash payment. a) That the Ld. AO has erred in law and on facts in alleging that the appellant made cash payment over and above the stated sale consideration for acquisition of Unit No. INTT/FIRST/SHOP/3-5/UD/29 merely on the basis of documents allegedly seized f....
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....ion, however strong, cannot take the place of evidence. In the present case, the Ld. AO has proceeded merely on presumptions and general observations relating to certain excel sheets allegedly found from the premises of Omaxe Group, without bringing any corroborative material on record to demonstrate that the appellant has actually made any cash payment over and above the recorded consideration and thus the order passed on the assumptions is bad in law. Reliance is placed on the following judicial precedents : • 2025 (12) TMI 1813 - ITAT CHANDIGARH Anupama Gupta Versus ITO, Ward 2, Chandigarh • 2026 (2) TMI 870 - ITAT MUMBAI Rasila Lalitkumar Cholera Versus Income Tax Officer • 2026 (2) TMI 811 - ITAT MUMBAI Dilip Bhanverlal Dangi (HUF) Versus Income Tax officer, Wd-26 (1) (3) • 2026 (2) TMI 321 - CALCUTTA HIGH COURT Principal Commissioner of Income Tax 1 Kolkata Versus M/s. Shipra Enclave Pvt Ltd • 2026 (1) TMI 817 - ITAT AHMEDABAD SKZ Developers LLP Versus The ACIT/DCIT Cent. Circle-1 (4) Ahmedabad • 2026 (1) TMI 187 - ITAT MUMBAI Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax-15 (1) (2), Mumbai Versus Das Offshore Lim....
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.... establish that any cash payment has actually been made by the appellant. Reliance in this regard is placed on the following judicial precedents which deals with the similar facts as in the case of appellant: • 2026 (2) TMI 351 - ITAT CHANDIGARH M/s Amarjot Singh Sohi - HUF Versus ITO, Ward-6 (1), Chandigarh • 2026 (4) TMI 548 - ITAT DELHI Nitin Arora Versus DCIT, Central Circle - 14, Delhi • 2026 (4) TMI 769 - ITAT CHANDIGARH Smt. Ranjana Kumari / Kalta, Shri Inder Kalta, M/s Kalta Liquors Versus DCIT/ACIT (Central) Shimla. i) Further, the addition by assessing officer without confronting the material on which adverse inference is drawn against the appellant is wholly unsustainable and liable to be deleted. In this regard, the reliance is placed on the following Judicial Precedents: • 2026 (4) TMI 920 - ITAT MUMBAI DCIT CC 7 (1), Mumbai Versus VilpabenPranavbhai Vora And (Vice-Versa) [2003] • 131 Taxman 86 (Delhi) (Mag.)[28-01-2003] ITAT DELHI BENCH 'E' BABCOCK POWER OVERSEAS PROJECTS) LTD. V. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX • [2026] 182 taxmann.com 68 (Mumbai - Trib.) IN THE ITAT MUMBAI BENCH....
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.... c) Further, the approval granted by the Ld. PCIT u/s. 151 for issuance of notice u/s. 148 is mechanical in nature and without independent application of mind, as the approval appears to have been granted merely on the basis of general information relating to Omaxe Group without examining whether any specific material exists against the appellant. The approving authority has failed to verify whether the alleged seized material specifically pertains to the appellant or evidences any unaccounted payment made by the appellant. d) It is a matter of record that no material was provided along with the sanction letter, despite the proforma for sanction clearly specifying that the sanction letter, along with the relied-upon documents, should be provided. Furthermore, this material was also not shared during the assessment proceedings, which further substantiates the fact that no material is available with the department. e) It is respectfully submitted that the provisions of section 151 require the approving authority to apply its independent mind to the material placed before it and to record satisfaction that it is a fit case for issuance of notice u/s. 148. Howe....
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....of the property. However, due to the above procedural lapse, the appellant was deprived of the opportunity to place the same before the Ld. CIT(A). The appellant therefore respectfully prays that the Hon'ble ITAT may kindly admit the submissions and adjudicate the grounds in the interest of justice. 7. Per contra the Ld. DR strongly relied upon the orders of the lower authorities. 8. We have heard the rival submissions and perused the material available on record. The assessee has challenged the validity of reassessment proceedings initiated under sections 147/148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as well as the addition of Rs. 13,55,000/- made under section 69 of the Act on account of alleged cash payment over and above the recorded sale consideration for purchase of commercial property. 8.1 At the outset, we find considerable force in the contention of the assessee that the very foundation of the reassessment proceedings is based upon incorrect and factually erroneous assumptions. The reasons recorded for reopening as well as the assessment order proceeded on the premise that the assessee had purchased the impugned property from Omaxe Group and had allegedly made cash payment ....