The main legal point established in the judgment is that the reassessment under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 requires specific allegations of non-disclosure of material facts by the assessee, and the absence of such allegations renders the reassessment unsustainable.

JUDGMENT

Rajiv Shakdher, J.

Prefatory Facts

1. This appeal concerns Assessment Year (AY) 2006-07.

2. The appellant/revenue seeks to assail the order dated 31.10.2018 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal [in short, "Tribunal"].

2.1. The Tribunal, via the impugned order, has reversed the decision dated 10.11.2014 delivered by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [in short, "CIT(A)"].

3. The short issue which arose for consideration before the Tribunal, in the backdrop of the facts and circumstances arising in the instant case, was: whether assessment could be reopened under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [in short, "Act"], in the absence of an allegation that the respondent/assessee had failed to disclose, fully and truly, all material facts necessary for carrying out the assessment, given the fact that the reassessment was triggered after the expiry of four (4) years from the end of relevant AY, i.e., AY 2006-07.

4. The factual backdrop in which the instant appeal has arisen, is as follows:

4.1. The respondent/assessee had electronically filed its Return of Income (ROI) on 02.02.2007. In the ROI, the respondent/assessee declared an income amounting to Rs.54,14,79,842/-. The respondent/assessee was subjected to scrutiny, and an assessment order under Section 143(3) of the Act was passed on 15.10.2008, pegging the income at Rs.54,16,13,061/-.

4.2. The record shows that on 28.08.2012, a search was carried out concerning the DSC Group of Companies by the Assistant Director of Income Tax (ADIT), i.e., the Investigation Wing. The search revealed that bogus purchases had been made by the respondent/assessee, via unexplained sources.

4.3. Consequently, on 28.03.2013, the Assessing Officer (AO) issued a notice under Section 148 of the Act, calling upon the respondent/assessee to file a return within a defined period.

4.4. In response, the respondent/assessee, via the communication dated 01.05.2013, informed the AO that its original return filed under Section 139 of the Act, should be treated as a return filed in response to the notice dated 28.03.2013, issued under Section 148 of the Act.

4.5. Furthermore, the respondent/assessee also called upon the AO to furnish a copy of the reasons recorded for triggering the reassessment proceeding.

5. It appears that thereafter, a notice dated 30.12.2013 was issued to the respondent/assessee under Section 143(2) of the Act, whereby, the respondent/assessee, inter alia, was called upon, to have its authorized representative [in short, "AR"] attend the reassessment proceeding scheduled to take place on 06.01.2014.

6. Evidently, it is on this date, i.e., 06.01.2014, that, upon the AR of the respondent/assessee seeking a copy of the reasons recorded by the AO for triggering the reassessment proceeding, the same was furnished.

7. Having received a copy of the reasons recorded by the AO, the respondent/assessee filed its objections dated 10.01.2014, at the hearing held by the AO on 20.01.2014.

8. The AO disposed of the objections filed by the respondent/assessee via an order dated 22.01.2014. The record shows that on 07.02.2014, the respondent/assessee was served with a notice under Section 142(1) of the Act.

9. The record also shows that the AR of the respondent/assessee furnished the requisite information/details and explanation called for by the AO. This aspect emerges upon a perusal of Paragraph 2 of the reassessment order, passed on 30.03.2014 under Section 147/143(3) of the Act, which is extracted hereafter:

"The proceedings u/s 143(2) were discussed with Sh. Sahil Chanana along with Swati Gupta, CA & A/R of the assessee company from time to time, who furnished the required information/details and explanation as called for."

10. Via the aforementioned reassessment order dated 30.03.2014, the AO made the following additions to the taxable income of the respondent/assessee, as determined by an earlier order dated 15.10.2008 passed under Section 143(3) of the Act:

(i) Rs.3,0