The Delhi High Court stayed the assessment order passed under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act as revenue failed to furnish evidence linking the assessee and the other person.
The petitioner, Pravin Kumar Batta who was, at the relevant point in time, acting as the Official Liquidator attached to the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, was supposedly paid Rs.4.50 crores by Mr. Mathur, CEO of Shreeaumji Infrastructure and Projects Pvt. Ltd. (SIPL) and that these funds were provided by Mr. Prasesh Arya, Chief General Manager, Finance, JBM Group of companies, controlled and managed by Messrs Nirmal Kumar Minda and Surendra Kumar Arya; who were also the directors on the board of SIPL. The said sum was, allegedly, paid to the petitioner to obtain favorable orders from the concerned court qua the factory land located in Rajpura, Punjab that was ultimately secured by the JBM group of companies by having the laborers vacate the said parcel of land.
An addition of Rs. 4.50 crores has been made to the declared income of the petitioner, concerning the assessment year 2010-2011.
Although the impugned assessment order refers to a two-stage satisfaction note, i.e., one generated by the Assessing Officer (AO), of the searched person, and the other generated by the AO of the petitioner, the petitioner has been served only with the satisfaction note, generated by his AO.
The division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Talwant Singh noted that the revenue has not furnished any material, whereby, Mr. Mathur, who remains unidentified up until today, can be linked to the petitioner.
The court while listing the matter on August 5, 2021, directed the issuance of the notice to the respondent authority and obtained instructions as to whether or not an assessment order has been passed qua the JBM Group and/or SIPL.
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