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2026 Supreme(Online)(ITAT) 9961
INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (DELHI BENCH)
S. Rifaur Rahman, Accountant Member, Sudhir Kumar, Judicial Member
Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax – Appellant
Versus
Mohinder Kumar Malik – Respondent
ITA No. 8120/Del/2025
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Monika Singh
For the Respondents: S.K. Gupta
For proceedings under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the limitation period for the block years commences from the date of receipt of the seized books, documents, or assets by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer of the non-searched person, rather than the date of the search.
Headnote:(A) Income Tax Act, 1961 - Section 153C, 153A, 143(3) - Assessment in case of search - Relevant block period commencement - Limitation period - Whether limitation for section 153C should be reckoned from date of search or date of handover of seized records to jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
(B) Appeals - Jurisdiction and Limitation - Appellate authority must adhere to binding judicial precedents regardless of subsequent legislative clarifications if the jurisdictional court has interpreted the law - High Court decision on limitation under Section 153C is binding on Tribunal. (Para 5.1.9)
Facts of the case:
The assessee was subject to reassessment proceedings following a search operation. The Assessing Officer initiated proceedings under Section 153C based on documents seized during a search conducted in 2018. The seized records were handed over to the Assessing Officer of the non-searched person in the financial year 2021-22. The assessment was completed in 2022. The CIT(A) ruled the assessment to be time-barred, prompting the Revenue to appeal.
Findings of Court:
The Court held that it is bound by the jurisdictional High Court's decision interpreting Section 153C, which states that the commencement date for the computation of the block period is the date of receipt of books of accounts by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer, not the date of search.
Issues: Whether the assessment initiated under Section 153C for AY 2012-13 was barred by limitation, considering the date of handover of seized documents vs. the date of search.
Ratio Decidendi: Following binding precedents which specifically interpreted the legal fiction in the first proviso to Section 153C, the court affirmed that the limitation period for initiating assessment against a non-searched person commences from the date of receipt of seized documents by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
Result: Appeal dismissed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. procedural history and grounds of challenge concerning section 153c limitation. (Para 4 , 5) |
| 2. judicial assessment of the limitation period for section 153c proceedings. (Para 6) |
| 3. final confirmation of the cit(a) order and dismissal of the revenue's appeal. (Para 7) |
ORDER
PER SUDHIR KUMAR, JM:
This appeal by revenue is preferred against the order of Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeqals-24), New Delhi [for short hereinafter referred to as the “CIT(A)] dated 26.09.2025 arising out of the assessment order of the AO dated 30-12-2022 under section 153C r.w.s. 143(3) of the Income tax Act 1961, (in short “the Act”),for Assessment Year 2012-13. There is delay of 4 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal by the Revenue. After hearing both the sides and perusing the records, we find that reasonable cause has been attributed to the Revenue in filing the instant belated appeal, thus, the delay of 4 days is condoned and accordingly, the appeal of the Revenue is admitted.
2 .The revenue has raised the following grounds in appeal:
1. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in delivering internally inconsistent and contradictory findings, having accepted the Revenue’s position that the block under sections 153A and 153C is to be computed from the date of search, but nevertheless allowing the assessee’s claim by relying on judgement of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s in the case of Jasjit Singh and order of Hon’ble Delhi High court in the case of PCIT Vs Ojjus Medicare Private Limited and thereby rendering the order unsustainable.
2. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in failing to appreciate that even if the assessee’s interpretation is adopted and the date of handover of seized documents (i.e., 13.05.2021) is taken as the commencement point, AY 2012-13 clearly falls within the ten-year block prescribed in the first proviso to section 153C; hence, the finding that the assessment is time- barred is factually incorrect and legally untenable.
3. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in mechanically applying the decisionof Hon’ble Delhi High court in the case of PCIT vs. Ojjus Medicare Pvt. Ltd. without noting that the said judgment has been challenged by the Revenue before the Hon’ble Supreme Court and is pending for adjudication, and without reconciling it with her own observation that the limitationfor the purpose of computation of the six-and ten-year block for assessment under section 153C has to be reckoned from the “date of search” and not from “when documents are either handed over to a jurisdictional AO” or “when the satisfaction note in respect of a nonsearched person is drawn.
4. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in failing to give due effect to the clarificatory amendment brought by the Finance Act, 2017 and CBDT Circular No. 2/2018 dated 15.02.2018, both of which reinforce the position that the block period under section 153C is required to be computed from the date of search and not from the date of handover of documents.
5. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) has erred in ignoring the statutory parity intended between proceedings under sections 153A and 153C, wherein the block period of six years or ten years is common for both searched and non-searched persons, and must uniformly commence from the date on which the search is initiated.
3. The brief facts of the case are that deceased assesses had filed his Income Tax Return for the Assessment Year 2012-13 declaring an income of Rs. 17,01,060 on 07.07.2012. The case of the assessee was reopened by Asstt. Commissioner, Central Circle 6, New Delhi on 31 March 2019 and the assessee received a notice under section 148 from him. Subsequently the legal heir of assessee came to know that during the search and seizure operation held on 03.01.2018 certain documents/papers containing th
