TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 693
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....nation petition, in the interest of substantial justice, we are inclined to condone the delay and admit the appeal of the Assessee for adjudication. 3. The Assessee has raised the following grounds of appeal before us:- "1. That the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) ["CIT(A)") has erred both in law and on facts in upholding the assessment order passed under section 153C read with section 143(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, without appreciating that the jurisdictional conditions precedent for initiating proceedings under section 153C were not satisfied in the present case. 2. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in not appreciating that the assessment order passed under section 153C was time-barred in view of the statutory limitation prescribed under section 153B of the Act, as the assessment order dated 31.12.2019 was served only on 13.01.2020. 3. That the Ld. CIT(A) has failed to appreciate that the assessment is bad in law in the absence of any incriminating material pertaining to the appellant for the relevant assessment year found during the search, and in contravention of the settled law laid down in the case of CIT v. Sinhgad Technical Education ....
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....se of such search and seizure operation. A satisfaction note was recorded by the AO of the searched person on 22-12-2018 stating that the seized document styled as Party PSR Annexure A-1 seized from the premises of Purushottam Lal Soni relates / pertains to the Assessee herein. Accordingly, proceedings stood initiated under section 153C of the Act on the Assessee which would be obviously after 22-12-2018. 5. Notice under Section 153C of the Act stood issued to the Assessee for assessment year 2016-17 on 29-12-2018. In response to the same, the Assessee filed the return of income on 16-12-2019 declaring total income of Rs. 1,06,54,694. Later, notice under Section 143(2) of the Act was issued on 30-12-2019, which was duly served upon the Assessee. The assessment stood completed under section 153C read with section 143(3) of the Act for the assessment year 2016-17 in the hands of the Assessee firm on 31-12- 2019 determining the total income of the Assessee at Rs 18,42,21,320 after making the following additions :- (a) addition on account of unexplained cash payments - Rs 1,80,22,599 (b) addition on account of unexplained cash receipts - Rs 31,90,781 (c) a....
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....that the survey materials found / impounded from one person cannot be used in section 153C proceedings qua the third person. Similarly if it is to be construed as Search conducted on 07-03-2017, then any action on the Assessee herein could have to be taken separately under section 153C of the Act after recording due satisfaction notes by handing over the seized documents by the AO of the searched person to the AO of the Assessee herein. Undoubtedly, no such compliance was made by the revenue in the instant case. It is not in dispute that the proceedings qua the Assessee herein stood initiated under section 153C of the Act based on the search conducted in the case of Purushotham Lal Soni on 16-12-2016. Hence the assessment framed in the hands of the Assessee herein under section 153C of the Act on 31-12-2019 for the assessment year 2016-17 is based on the search of Purushotham Lal Soni and not the search of Shri Puneet Kulthia. Hence the materials found and seized / impounded from Shri Puneet Kulthia cannot be used in the impugned search assessment framed under section 153C of the Act. Accordingly, the addition made on account of bogus purchases in the sum of Rs 46,71,556 cannot be ....
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....ereas the assessment ought to have been framed under section 153C of the Act, and hence the order is without jurisdiction and bad in law. 2. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in not appreciating that the assessment order dated 31.12.2019 was served beyond the period of limitation as per section 153B of the Act, thereby rendering the assessment null and void. 3. That the Ld. CIT(A) has grossly erred in confirming the addition of Rs. 72,93,38,623/- as unexplained cash payments, ignoring the fact that the alleged data was never provided in usable form and the assessee was not confronted with any conclusive material or provided opportunity to rebut. 4. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in sustaining the addition of Rs. 59,44,70,000/- as unexplained cash receipts without establishing the nexus of the alleged transactions with the assessee's business, and despite the absence of any primary or corroborative evidence. 5. That the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in confirming the addition of Rs. 20,38,97,081/- on account of bogus unsecured loans, without proper inquiry or appreciation of the confirmations and supporting documents furnished by the assessee 6. Th....
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....uate opportunity to the assessee, and mechanical finalisation of assessment, thereby violating the principles of natural justice. 17. That the appellant craves leave to add, alter, amend, or withdraw any ground(s) of appeal at the time of hearing in the interest of justice." 14. We have heard the rival submissions and perused the materials available on record. The Assessee is a partnership firm formed on 25-10- 2015 by way of conversion of proprietorship concern of Shri Purushottam Lal Soni, namely M/s Soni Traders into the partnership firm under the same name. The partnership firm had taken over all the assets and liabilities of the proprietorship concern. All these facts are not doubted or disputed by the revenue. A search and seizure operation under section 132 of the Act was carried out on 16-12-2016 in the business and residential premises of Purushottam Lal Soni group of cases. Some incriminating papers or documents related to the Assessee were found and seized during the course of such search and seizure operation. A satisfaction note was recorded by the AO of the searched person on 22-12-2018 relevant to Assessment Year 2019-20 stating that the seized document s....