IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH ‘G’: NEW DELHI BEFORE SHRI ANUBHAV SHARMA, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND SHRI MANISH AGARWAL, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER ITA No.634/Del/2020 (ASSESSMENT YEAR 2012-13)

ACIT, Sunil Gupta, Circle-55(1), 4/1733, Bhola Nath Nagar, Vs. New Delhi.

Mahavir Block, Shahadara Delhi-110032.

PAN-AAOPG6063B (Appellant) (Respondent)

Assessee by Shri Thakur Repudhman, CA &

Shri Anurag Gupta, CA Department by Ms. Jaya Chaoudhary, CIT-DR Date of Hearing 13/02/2025 Date of Pronouncement 21/02/2025

O R D E R

PER MANISH AGARWAL, AM:

This is the appeal filed by the Assessee against the order of Ld.

Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-37, New Delhi dated 09.12.2019, for the Assessment Year 2012-13 in appeal No. CIT(A), Delhi 37/10095/2016-17.

2. Brief facts of the case are that assessee is an individual and filed his return of income on 02.02.2013 declaring total income at Rs.3,41,980/-which stood processed. A search and seizure action u/s132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”, in short) was carried out in the case of Orbit group of cases on 13.05.2014 and the proprietary firm of the assessee was also search. Thereafter the notice u/s 153A of the Act was issued on 29.06.2016, in response to which the assessee filed return of income on 17.10.2016 declaring same income as was declared in the return filed u/s 139(1). Thereafter the assessment was completed u/s 153C r.w.s. 143(3) of the Act dt. 31.12.2016 at a total income of Rs. 86,93,090/- by making various additions. Against the said order assessee preferred appeal which is dismissed by the ld. CIT(A) vide impugned order dt. 09.12.2019, thus the present appeal is filed by the assessee before us.

3. The assessee has taken as many as 9 grounds of appeal and the ground of appeal No. 1 is in relation to the completion of assessment u/s 153A of the Act after making additions when no incriminating material was found as a result of search. Since this is a purely legal ground thus the same is taken up first for consideration.

4. Before us, the Ld. AR argued that in this case the search u/s 132 of the Act was carried out on 13.05.2014 which was finally concluded on 1.07.2014. Ld.AR submits that when the search was conducted no proceedings were pending with respect to the assessment year under consideration as the return of income was filed on 02.02.2013 and the time limit for issue of notice u/s 143(2) was upto 30.09.2013 and no notice was issued u/s 143(2) in the case of assessee. Ld. AR further argued that from the perusal of the assessment order it is evident that not a single paper found as result of search was referred by the AO for making any additions and entire additions are solely based on the details filed by the assessee during the course of assessment proceedings. Ld.AR submits that the assessee since inception of the proceedings u/s 153A has objected the completion of assessment u/s 153A as there was no incriminating material found and seized during the course of search but neither the AO nor the ld. CIT(A) has accepted the contention of the assessee and the additions were made / uphold without referring to any single incriminating paper found as result of search. He, therefore submitted that in the scheme of search assessment u/s 153A no addition could be made in absence of incriminating material and for this he placed reliance in the case of PCIT Vs. Abhisar Buildwell (P) Ltd. reported in [2023] 149 taxman.com 399 (SC). Ld. AR also filed a written submission on this issue which reads as under “2). No incriminating Material-No addition Where in course of proceedings u/s. 153A/153C, Assessing Officer made various additions / disallowance, in view of fact that said additions /disallowances had been made without reference to any specific incriminating material / document found as a result of search and were based on re-appreciation of facts unconnected to search, same deserved to be set aside.

For the above proposition, reliance has been placed on:

a) Principal Commissioner