Referred Sections:
Section 143(2) of the Act
Section 292BB
Section 124(3) of the Act.
Section 127 of the Act
Sub-section-3
Section 148 of the Act
Section 149 (b) of the Act.
Section 147 and 148 of the Act
Referred Cases / Judgments:
M/s. Micro Space matrix Solution Pvt. Ltd., vs ITO in ITA No.669/Del/2012
CIT vs Lunar Diamonds Ltd. (ITA No.62 of 2005),
ACIT vs Hotel Blue Moon (2010) 321 ITR 362 (SC).
CIT vs Kapil Jain in ITA No.613 of 2009
Abhishek Jain vs ITO 94 taxmann.com 355 (Del.)
Shri Harvinder Singh Jaggi vs ACIT in ITA No.672/Del/2013
KIE Infrastructures & Projects (P.) Ltd. vs ITO in IT Appeal No.23(Del) of 2012.
Cabbana Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. vs DCIT (ITA No.183 and 526/Asr./2017).
Tata Sons Ltd. vs ACIT (ITA No.4497 and 4542/Mum/2005) (Mum. Trib.)
CIT vs Atlanta Capital Pvt.
KIE Infrastructures & Projects (P.) Ltd. vs ITO in IT Appeal No.23(Del)
M/s Bajrang Bali Industries vs ACIT in ITA No.724/LKW/2017
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, DELHI `F' BENCH,
NEW DELHI
BEFORE SHRI T.S. KAPOOR, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER, AND
SHRI SUDHANSHU SRIVASTAVA, JUDICIAL MEMBER,
ITA No.1184/DEL/2019
[Assessment Year: 2014-15]
Rajeev Goel, ACIT,
M/s S.B.G. & Co. Chartered Circle-47(1),
Accountants, 9, Atta-ur- New Delhi,
rehman Lane, Civil Lines,
Delhi-110054
PAN-AWMPG2245H
Appellant Respondent
Appellant by Shri Ved Jain,
Shri Akshit Goeal &
Shri Nishchay Kantoar
Respondent by Shri Surendra Pal-Sr. DR
Date of Hearing 23/09/2019
Date of Pronouncement 26/09/2019
ORDER
PER T.S. KAPOOR, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
This appeal has been filed by the assessee against the order
of the Ld. CIT(A)-16, New Delhi, dated 18/12/2018, for Assessment
Year 2014-15. The assessee has taken a number of grounds both on
legal issues and on merits of the case. However, during the course of
proceedings before us, only ground No.1, which is on legal issue of
non-service of notice u/s 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961
(hereinafter `the Act') was argued which for the sake of completeness
is reproduced below.
2
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
"That no notice u/s 143(2), of the Income Tax Act, 1961,
issued by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over the
assessee, was served upon the assessee on or before the
time limit stipulated in the proviso to section 143(2) of the Act
and, therefore, the assessment order is illegal, unjustified
and void ab initio.
2. The Ld. AR at the outset, submitted that assessee in this
case has been assessed by the Assessing Officer, Circle-47(1), New
Delhi who is the Assessing Officer of the assessee and who has not
issued and served the statutory notice u/s 143(2) of the Act. The Ld.
AR submitted that during the course of assessment proceedings itself,
the assessee had objected to the assessment proceedings being
without statutory notice u/s 143(2) and had filed affidavit before the
Assessing Officer claiming therein that no notice u/s 143(2) was
served and in this respect our attention was invited to page 3 of the
assessment order where the Assessing Officer himself has reproduced
the affidavit filed by the assessee. It was submitted that the Assessing
Officer claimed that notice u/s 143(2) was duly issued and was
served upon the assessee and he has scanned the receipt of the speed
post along with tracking history of the envelope containing notice and
has reproduced the same in the assessment order itself. The Ld. AR
submitted that the address mentioned in the notice is B-37,
Maharana Pratap Enclave, Pitampura Delhi-110034, which means
that the said notice was to be dispatched at the above noted address.
3
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
In this respect, the Ld. AR took us to page 253, where a copy of said
notice was placed. The Ld. AR then took us to paper book page 254
where the tracking report of India Post was placed and in which the
destination Pin Code 110006, was mentioned. The Ld. AR submitted
that instead of sending the notice at Pin Code-110034 to the
assessee, the Assessing Officer had sent the notice at some Delhi
address with Pin Code-110006, therefore there is discrepancy in the
address noted in the notice u/s 143(2) of the Act and address on
which delivery is made. Further, it was argued that the name of the
assessee is Rajeev Goel and not Ranjeev Goel as bearing in the postal
receipt and therefore in such circumstances, it cannot be presumed
that the Ld. Assessing Officer had discharged its onus.
3. It was submitted that the case of the assessee is squarely
covered by the order of the Delhi ITAT in the case of M/s. Micro Space
matrix Solution Pvt. Ltd., vs ITO in ITA No.669/Del/2012 wherein, it
has been held that if there are discrepancies in the address stated in
the notice, envelope containing notice and the address noted by the
Post Officer, then there cannot be any presumption as to the valid
service of notice.
4. The Ld. AR further placed his reliance on judgments of Hon'ble
Delhi High Court in the case of CIT vs Lunar Diamonds Ltd. (ITA
No.62 of 2005), wherein, the Hon'ble High Court under similar facts
4
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
and circumstances had dismissed the appeal of the Revenue. It was
submitted that in that case also, the assessee had filed affidavit
regarding non-receipt of notice u/s 143(2) and there was difference in
the address on the receipt issued by post office and therefore, the
Hon'ble Tribunal had allowed the appeal of the assessee which the
Hon'ble High Court had upheld. The Ld. AR also relied upon a
number of case laws as listed in the brief synopsis filed by him. The
Ld. AR further submitted that the in view of the above facts and
circumstances, the assessee was not served noticed u/s 143(2) of the
Act and therefore, any assessment order passed without service of
notice u/s 143(2) is null and void as held by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court in the case of ACIT vs Hotel Blue Moon (2010) 321 ITR 362
(SC). It was submitted that in that case, the Hon'ble Supreme Court
has clearly held that in absence of service of notice u/s 143(2) of the
Act, the assessment becomes null and void. It was submitted that
Hon'ble Supreme Court even dealt with the provisions of section
292BB and has held that even section 292BB cannot cure the defect
of not serving of notice u/s 143(2) of the Act. It was submitted that in
the present case, the assessee before the Assessing Officer itself had
objected to the assessment proceedings, because of non-service of
notice and therefore, section 292BB is also not applicable to the
assessee.
5
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
5. Without prejudice, it was argued that the notice issued by the
Assessing Officer of Ward 34(1) u/s 143(2) was not issued by the
jurisdictional Assessing Officer. It was submitted that official address
of assessee is 1705, 3rd Floor, Onkar Bhawan, Bhagirath Place, Delhi-
110006 and jurisdiction of which lies with Circle 47(1), New Delhi and
the jurisdiction at the time of issuance of notice also lied with such
Circle 47(1) and our attention was invited to copy of jurisdiction chart
extracted from the website of Income Tax Department placed at paper
book page no. 301 to 327. It was submitted that the Assessing Officer
of Circle 34(1) does not hold jurisdiction even over the residential
address of the assessee for which the Assessing Officer of Circle 39(1)
holds the jurisdiction and therefore it was argued that the notice
issued by non-jurisdictional Assessing Officer is liable to be quashed.
6. Regarding the contention of the Ld. CIT(A) that assessee should
have raised the issue within one month of notice, it was submitted
that the assessee could not have known that the notice has been
issued by a non-jurisdictional Assessing Officer as the notice itself
was not served and thus could not have filed the objection in this
regard. It was submitted that the notice u/s 142(1) was duly issued
by Circle 47(1) only and accordingly no objection was filed and further
the order was passed by the Assessing Officer Circle 47(1) and thus
no objection was filed. It was submitted that the aforesaid fact came
6
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
to light of assessee after receiving the remand report and immediately
thereafter objection was raised vide rejoinder to the remand report.
Thus, there is no breach of section 124(3) of the Act. As regards the
case laws relied upon by the Ld. CIT(A), it was submitted that the
these are distinguishable on facts as in the case of Mega Corporation
Ltd. in ITA No.128/2016 and CIT vs Kapil Jain in ITA No.613 of 2009
and Abhishek Jain vs ITO 94 taxmann.com 355 (Del.) notice had
been served upon the assessee and assessee had failed to raise the
objections within the stipulated period prescribed u/s 124(3) of the
Act, whereas, in the present case no notice was served upon the
assessee as already demonstrated.
7. The Ld. AR, further, argued that no order u/s 127 for transfer of
case from one Assessing Officer to another Assessing Officer was
passed, whereas the Commissioner of both the Assessing Officer are
different. It was submitted that such order has to be passed by Chief
Commissioner or Commissioner from whose jurisdiction, the case is
to be transferred. It was submitted that Circle-34 and Circle 47 are
under the jurisdiction of different CCITs, therefore, the order u/s 127
was mandatory. The Ld. AR further argued that the Chief
Commissioner of Circle 34 also did not pass any order u/s 127 to
transfer the case back to the Circle 34 and therefore there is violation
of the provisions of section 127 of the Act and therefore, the order
7
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
passed by the Assessing Officer, Circle 47(1) is not valid and liable to
be quashed. In this respect, reliance was placed on the following
cases:-
i. Shri Harvinder Singh Jaggi vs ACIT in ITA No.672/Del/2013
ii. KIE Infrastructures & Projects (P.) Ltd. vs ITO in IT Appeal
No.23(Del) of 2012.
iii. Cabbana Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. vs DCIT (ITA No.183 and
526/Asr./2017).
iv. Tata Sons Ltd. vs ACIT (ITA No.4497 and 4542/Mum/2005)
(Mum. Trib.)
8. The Ld. DR on the other hand, vehemently argued that the
arguments raised by the Ld. AR are baseless and are aimed at
depriving the Revenue of its legitimate share. The Ld. DR filed a copy
of letter written by the Assessing Officer, Circle 47(1) and also stated
that complete assessment record was available with him. The Ld. DR
filed a print out of PAN directory showing the address of the assessee
and submitted that while filing PAN application, the assessee duly
mentioned its address as B-37, Maharana Pratap Enclave, Pitampura
Delhi-110034 and therefore as per the PAN records, notice u/s 143(2)
was generated by the Assessing Officer where the PAN of the assessee
lied which in the present case was Assessing Officer Circle-34(1).
Inviting our attention to the copy of notice, the Ld. AR submitted that
the same was generated by the same Assessing Officer where the PAN
of the assessee was laying and the assessee filed returns of income
8
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
stating therein different address and in this respect, invited our
attention to paper book page 5 where a copy of return along with
address mentioned on it was placed. The Ld. DR stated that assessee
did not inform the Assessing Officer for change of address and
therefore raising of such plea of notice by a different Assessing Officer
does not hold good. The Ld. DR placed his reliance on a decision of
Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the case of Sky Light Hospitality LLP
(2018) 405 ITR 296 wherein, the Hon'ble Court had held that where
the name and even the PAN number mentioned were incorrect,
human errors and mistakes cannot and should not nullify
proceedings which are otherwise valid and where no prejudice had
been caused. The ld. DR further placed his reliance on order of the
Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of Abhishek Jain vs ITO (2018)
405 ITR 1, where the Hon'ble High Court has held that sub-section-3
of section 124 clearly states that no person can call in question
jurisdiction of an Assessing Officer in case of non-compliance and/or
after the stipulated in clause (a) and (b), and therefore, it was argued
that at this stage, the arguments of the assessee cannot be accepted
and it was therefore argued that the Ld. CIT(A) has rightly dismissed
this grounds of appeal.
9. The Ld. AR in this rejoinder submitted that the assessee is not
under any obligation to inform the Assessing Officer regarding change
9
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
of address and in this respect relied upon the judgment of Hon'ble
Delhi High Court in the case of Pr. CIT vs Atlanta Capital Pvt. Ltd.
and filed a copy of the decision. The Ld. AR submitted that the
arguments of the ld. DR that notice u/s 143(2) is generated by the
Assessing Officer where the PAN number lies also goes in favour of
the assessee as the Assessing Officer while issuing notice u/s 143(2)
has not applied his mind whereas the section itself requires that the
Assessing Officer should have been satisfied before issuing of notice
u/s 143(2) and if the Assessing Officer issued notice u/s 143(2)
without taking into account the return filed by the assessee, such
notice itself is also bad in law.
10. We have heard rival parties and have gone through the material
placed on record. We find that it is correct that the assessee obtained
his PAN number by stating residential address as B-37, Maharana
Pratap Enclave, Pitampura Delhi-110034. Print out of PAN directory
showing the address and PAN number of the assessee is placed in
page-4 of paper book filed by Revenue. Further, it is also correct that
the assessee filed his return of income by stating therein address as
1705, 3rd Floor, Onkar Bhawan, Bhagirath Place, Delhi-110006,
therefore, it is an undisputed fact that there is difference between the
address mentioned in PAN data base as well as in the return of
income filed by assessee. As per jurisdiction chart of Income Tax
10
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
Department in Delhi, extracted from the website of Income Tax
Department, placed at page book page 301 to 327, the jurisdiction of
assessee as per his address in PAN application is with Assessing
Officer Ward 39(1). The jurisdiction of the Assessing Officer, as per
the address mentioned in the return of income is with Assessing
Officer Circle No.47(1) who has passed the assessment order. The
notice issued u/s 143(2) has been issued by the Assessing Officer
Circle 34(1) who is neither the Assessing Officer of assessee on the
basis of address in PAN application nor is the Assessing Officer of
assessee as per address mentioned in the returns of income.
11. The jurisdiction chart placed in paper book page 308 reflects
the area covered under Circle 34(1) which includes Sarai Pepal Thala,
Shalimar Bagh(south), Ashok Vihar, Wazir Pur, Sawan Park, Nimri
Colony, Malka Ganj. At none of the places mentioned above, the
assessee resides or does his business. Therefore, the notice issued by
the Assessing Officer of Circle 34(1) is held to be illegal as the
Assessing Officer of Circle 34(1) had no jurisdiction on the assessee
either on the basis of his residential address or on the basis of his
business address. The Ld. DR also could not produce any order
passed u/s 127 of the Act either by the Commissioner of Circle 34(1)
or Commissioner of Circle 47(1) of the Act. As regards, the contention
raised by the Ld. DR that the assessee should have approached the
11
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
Assessing Officer for change of address also does not hold good in
view of the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of Pr.
CIT vs Atlanta Capital Pvt. Ltd., where, the Hon'ble Court has held as
under:-
"7. On the facts of the present case, it is seen that notice dated 27th
March 2008 under Section 148 of the Act was issued to the Assessee by
the Assessing Officer ('AO') at the address at B-231, Okhla Industrial
Area, Phase-I, New Delhi. Admittedly, the Assessee had shifted from that
address with effect from 1st February 2005 to a new address at B-115,
Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi. For AY 2005-06 and the subsequent AYs,
the Assessee disclosed his address as B-115, Sarvodaya Enclave, New
Delhi. Even the AO had sent letters to the Assessee at the same address
on 8 th August 2007. The intimation under Section 143(1) of the Act
dated 25 th January 2008 for AY 2006-07 was also sent by the AO to the
Assessee at the same changed address i.e. B-115, Sarvodaya Enclave,
New Delhi. There is nothing to show that the notice under Section 148 of
the Act was in fact issued by the AO showing the aforementioned
changed address.
8. It is the contention of Mr. N.P. Sahni, learned Senior Standing counsel
for the Revenue, that the notice satisfied the requirement as to limitation
under Section 149 (b) of the Act. However, as noted by the ITAT, the
notice itself was not issued at the correct address. The fact that the said
notice, sent by speed post, was not returned unserved, would be to no
avail since the address given in the notice was not the last known address
of the Assessee.
9. Mr. Sahni then submitted that it was incumbent on the Assessee to
have got his changed address entered in the PAN Data Base failing
which the AO would only go by the address given in the record of the
relevant AY which in the case is AY 2001-02.
10. The Court is unable to agree with this submission. No provision in
the Act has been shown to the Court which obliges the Assessee to ensure
that his changed address is entered in the PAN Data Base failing which
he is precluded from insisting on the notice under Section 148 being
issued to him at the known address and being served upon him. In the
present case, on facts, it is not in dispute that the AO was aware of the
change of address of the Assessee and yet the notice under Section 148 of
the Act was issued at the older address.
12
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
11. Mr. Sahni submitted that the order of the CIT (A) notes the fact that a
photocopy of the notice was given to the Assessee during the re-
assessment proceedings and that by itself should constitute sufficient
service of notice on the Assessee. In light of the law explained by the
Supreme Court in R.K. Upadhyaya v. Shanbhai P. Patel (1987) 3 SCC 96
which has in turn been followed by this Court in Chetan Gupta (supra),
the requirement of both the issuance and the service of such upon the
Assessee for the purposes of Section 147 and 148 of the Act are
mandatory 'jurisdictional requirements'.
The mere fact that an Assessee participated in the re-assessment
proceedings despite not having been issued or served with the notice
under Section 148 of the Act in accordance with law will not constitute a
waiver of the said jurisdictional requirement.
12. On facts, therefore, the Court finds no legal error committed by the
ITAT in holding that there was no proper service of notice on the
Assessee under Section 148 of the Act."
12. Even otherwise, we have observed that the Assessing Officer of
Circle 34(1) did not have jurisdiction over the assessee neither on the
basis of residential address nor on the basis of business address.
Therefore, the notice issued by Assessing Officer of Circle-34(1)
cannot be said to be legal as it has been issued by a non
jurisdictional Assessing Officer and that too without any order u/s
127 of the Act. The Hon'ble Delhi ITAT in the case of KIE
Infrastructures & Projects (P.) Ltd. vs ITO in IT Appeal No.23(Del) of
2012 has held as under:-
"Where in case of assessee, Assessing Officer at ward 4 Agra himself
transferred jurisdiction of case to Assessing Officer at ward 5(3), New
Delhi and there being no transfer order passed by Chief Commissioner or
Commissioner, it was a case of violation of provisions of section 127 and,
therefore, impugned assessment order passed by Assessing Officer, ward
5(3), New Delhi was to be regarded as void ab intio."
13
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
13. Similarly, Lucknow Bench of the Tribunal in the case of M/s
Bajrang Bali Industries vs ACIT in ITA No.724/LKW/2017, order
dated 30/11/2018 has held as under:-
"6. In the present case, the return of income was furnished on 30.09.2013.
The financial year in which the return was filed expired on 31.03.2014 and
therefore, last date for issue of notice was 30.09.2014. The statutory period
for issuance of notice u/s 143(2) expired on 30.09.2014 and by 30.09.2014
the notice u/s 143(2), which was within the prescribed period of time, was
issued only by DCIT-IV, Kanpur who had no jurisdiction over the case, as
the DCIT-IV himself had transferred the case to DCIT-2, Kanpur vide memo
dated 20.08.2015, a copy of which is placed at paper book Page 3.
Therefore from the above facts and circumstances, it become apparent that
the first Assessing Officer who issued notice on 30.09.2014 had no
jurisdiction to assess the assessee and, therefore, he transferred the case to
DCIT-2, Kanpur who though had jurisdiction to assess the assessee but
issued notice u/s 143(2) only on 07.09.2015 by which date period for
issuance of notice had expired. We further find that no order u/s 127 of the
Act was passed by the Assessing Officer to transfer the case from Kanpur-4
to Kanpur-2. The Assessing Officer who had jurisdiction to assess the
assessee issued notice u/s 143(2) only on 07.09.2015 which was beyond the
prescribed time limit for issuance of such notice. Therefore, the notice
issued u/s 143(2) by DCIT, Kanpur-2 beyond the statutory period of time is
without jurisdiction and therefore, any order passed in consequence of such
notice is also liable to be quashed. Therefore, we are in agreement with the
argument of Ld. AR. Accordingly, additional grounds of appeal 5 to 8 are
allowed. Since we have decided the legal issues, in favour of assessee the
grounds on merits of the case have become infructuous and have not been
adjudicated."
In view of the above facts and circumstances & judicial precedents
the arguments of the Ld. AR is accepted & notice issued by Assessing
Officer of Circle-34(1) is held to be void-ab-intio.
14. Moreover, if for a moment, we presume that the notice issued by
Circle 34(1) Assessing Officer was valid then its service was not
proper as the address mentioned on the notice placed in paper book
page 253 is B-37, Maharana Pratap Enclave, Pitampura Delhi-
14
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
110034, whereas as per India Post tracking report, the notice has
been delivered at Delhi address to one Ranjeev Goel with Pin Code
110006. There is difference between the address mentioned in the
notice which is Pin Code 110034 and tracking report which is 110006
and also there is difference in the name mentioned in the notice
which is Rajeev Goel and that mentioned in the tracking report which
is Ranjeev Goel. The copy of tracking report is placed at paper book
page 254. Therefore, in view of these facts, the notice, even if
presumed to be by jurisdictional Assessing Officer has not been
served properly. The Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of CIT vs
Lunar Diamonds Ltd. (281 ITR 1) has dealt with similar situation. The
facts of the case and its decision is reproduced below:-
". On appeal before the CIT(A), it was contended by the assessee that it
had not received under section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961
allegedly sent by registered post. An affidavit to this effect was filed. It
was contended that the receipt issued by the post office did not bear the
address of the assessee but only its name. It was, therefore, submitted
that there was a possibility that the correct address of the assessee might
not have been written on the envelope and, therefore, the question of
service of notice on the assessee did not arise. The contention of the
assessee was accepted by the Commissioner (Appeals) and it was held
that there was no valid service of notice on the assessee and, therefore,
the assessment framed was invalid. On appeal to the High Court, held
dismissing the appeal filed by the revenue:
"We may also point out that there appears to be some doubt
whether the notice was at all sent to the assessee because, as
observed by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals), the
receipt showing that an envelope was sent by registered post
merely contained the name of the assessee without its address.
Consequently, it is quite possible that the notice may have been
sent to the assessee at some wrong or even some incomplete
address. However, it is not necessary for us to go into this
question at all because the assessee had filed an affidavit
15
ITA No. 1184/Del/2019
stating that it had not received the notice and the Tribunal
rightly held that under these circumstances, the burden was
upon the appellant to prove that notice was served upon the
assessee within the prescribed time. The appellant had failed to
prove its case in this regard."
The above case squarely applies to the facts of the instant case. In the
instant case also, there is no reason to believe that the notice was sent to
the assessee because the postal receipt showingthat an envelope was sent
by speed post merely contained the name of the assessee without its
address. Consequently, it is quite possible that the notice may have been
sent to the assessee at some wrong or even some incomplete address. The
assessee has filed an affidavit stating that he had not received the notice.
Hence, applying the ratio, the notice u/s 143(2) is void.
Therefore, on this ground also the assessee succeeds as in this
case also the service of notice was not proper.
15. In view of the above facts and circumstances, the legal ground
taken by the assessee is allowed. Nothing was argued on the merits of
the case and therefore, merits of the case has not been adjudicated.
16. In the result, appeal is allowed.
Order pronounced in the open court on 26/09/2019.
Sd/- Sd/-
[SUDHANSHU SRIVASTAVA] [T.S. KAPOOR]
JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
Delhi; Dated: 26/09/2019.
f{x~{tÜ? fÜA P.S
Copy forwarded to:
1. Appellant
2. Respondent
3. CIT
4. CIT(A)
5. DR
Asst. Registrar,
ITAT, New Delhi
Referred Sections: |
Referred Cases / Judgments: |
|