Mere Mention of Wrong Section would not make Assessment Order Invalid: ITAT [Read Order]

The Bangalore ITAT, on Tuesday ruled that the assessment proceedings under the Income Tax Act cannot be nullified merely on ground of mentioning a wrong section in the order.

In the present case, the assessee approached the Tribunal on second appeal contending that a notice under section 153A of the Income Tax Act for the year 2012-13 was served on him in pursuant to a search. He argued that the notice is not valid as this assessment year is the current year in which the search itself was carried out. Therefore, he prayed before the Tribunal to quash the assessment order under section 153C.

The department, on the other hand, contended that there is no dispute that the search was conducted in the previous year relevant to the assessment year under consideration therefore the provisions of Section 153C are not applicable for the assessment year under consideration. It was said that the mention of this Section in the order is only a mistake which is covered under the provisions of Section 292BB of the Income Tax Act.

Dismissing the appeal, the bench noted that undisputedly when the search was carried out on 6.3.2012 then the provisions of Section 153C are not applicable for the assessment year under consideration i.e. 2012-13.

“Therefore, the assessment framed in question for the assessment year under consideration will be treated only under Section 143(3) and mere mention of section 153C in the assessment order will not render the assessment invalid or void ab-initio. It is apparent that this is a case of only a mistake of mentioning the assessment framed under Section 143(3) r.w.s 153C and no other material or procedural defect either pointed out or found on the record to suggest that the Assessing Officer has not followed the procedure for framing the assessment under Section 143(3).”