{"id":19555,"date":"2018-10-15T14:06:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T08:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/?p=19555"},"modified":"2018-10-15T14:06:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T08:36:21","slug":"surendra-kumar-jain-vs-pcit-delhi-high-court-search-assessments-the-time-limit-of-2-years-u-s-153b-for-framing-search-assessment-orders-applies-only-to-the-original-order-and-to-orders-passed-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/surendra-kumar-jain-vs-pcit-delhi-high-court-search-assessments-the-time-limit-of-2-years-u-s-153b-for-framing-search-assessment-orders-applies-only-to-the-original-order-and-to-orders-passed-after\/","title":{"rendered":"Surendra Kumar Jain vs. PCIT (Delhi High Court)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>IN THE <\/strong><strong>HIG<\/strong><strong>H COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Date of Decision: 01.10.2018 <\/strong>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4304\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16759\/2018 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SURENDRA KUMAR JAIN &#8230;..  Petitioner versus <br \/>\n  PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III,  NEW DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 22 <\/p>\n<p>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4305\/2018 &amp; CM  A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16760\/2018 <\/strong>SURENDRA KUMAR JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 23 + <\/p>\n<p><strong>W.P.(C) 4306\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16761\/2018 <\/strong>SURENDRA  KUMAR JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 24 + <\/p>\n<p><strong>W.P.(C) 4307\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16762\/2018 <\/strong>SURENDRA  KUMAR JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 25 + <\/p>\n<p><strong>W.P.(C) 4308\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16763\/2018 <\/strong>SURENDRA  KUMAR JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus<strong><\/strong> <br \/>\n  PRINCIPAL  COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;..  Respondents 26 + <\/p>\n<p><strong>W.P.(C) 4309\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16764\/2018 <\/strong>SURENDRA  KUMAR JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 27 + <\/p>\n<p><strong>W.P.(C) 4310\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16766\/2018 <\/strong>SURENDRA  KUMAR JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 28 + <\/p>\n<p><strong>W.P.(C) 4311\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16768\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA  JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 29 <\/p>\n<p>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4313\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16772\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA  JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 30 <\/p>\n<p>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4314\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16774\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA  JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;..  Respondents <br \/>\n  31  + <strong>W.P.(C) 4315\/2018 &amp; CM APPL.16781\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA JAIN &#8230;..  Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF  INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 32 <\/p>\n<p>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4316\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16782\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA  JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 33 <\/p>\n<p>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4318\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16786\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA  JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents 34 <\/p>\n<p>+ <strong>W.P.(C) 4319\/2018 &amp; CM A<\/strong><strong>PPL<\/strong><strong>.16787\/2018 <\/strong>VIRENDRA  JAIN &#8230;.. Petitioner versus PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (CENTRAL)-III, NEW  DELHI &amp; ANR. &#8230;.. Respondents <\/p>\n<p><strong>Present<\/strong>: Mr.Piyush Kaushik,  Adv. for petitioners, in Item Nos.21 to 34. <\/p>\n<p>Mr.Ajit  Sharma and Mr.Asheesh Jain, Adv. for respondents in Item Nos.21 to 34. <\/p>\n<p><strong>CORAM: <\/strong><strong>HON<\/strong><strong>&#8216;BLE MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT HON&#8217;BLE MR. <\/strong><strong>JUST<\/strong><strong>ICE A.K.CHAWLA <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>S.RAVINDRA BHAT, J.(ORAL) <\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>1. In all these writ petitions,  the narrow question agitated by the assessees is that assessment order made on  22.12.2017 under Section 153A read with Section 254 of Income Tax Act, 1961 (<em>hereinafter  &bdquo;the Act<\/em>&rsquo;) for Assessment Year 2005-06 and subsequent years (up-to 2012-13)  covered by search assessment, were barred and therefore, needs to be quashed. <\/p>\n<p>2. The brief facts necessary to  decide these writ petitions are that pursuant to search and seizure proceedings  under Section 132 of the Act, the assessment was completed for the block period  on 28.03.2013 by the concerned Assessing Officer (AO). The Commissioner of  Income Tax (A) partly allowed the assessee&rsquo;s appeal on 14.08.2014. The matter  was carried further to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) which remitted  the matter back to the AO to complete the assessment <em>de novo<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>The assessee contends that in  fact the concerned AO sought tax effect by re-computing the income under  Section 153A of the Act, in effect, following the ITAT&rsquo;s order of 18.02.2016.  Relying upon that order, the assessment proceedings were taken up after remand  by the AO who completed them on 22.12.2017. Relying upon the Full Bench  decision of this Court in <em>Odeon Builders Pvt. Ltd. vs. Pr. Commissioner of  Income Tax-4, (<\/em>2017) 393 ITR 27, it is urged on behalf of the assessees  that the impugned order is <em>per se <\/em>illegal and void. <\/p>\n<p>It was contended that apart  from the AO&rsquo;s order &ndash; made after the ITAT&rsquo;s decision (on 18.02.2016), there is  other evidence as well, in the form of reply to the assessee&rsquo;s ITR queries  dated 12.03.2018 where the revenue clearly admitted that the order was served  by hand to the Commissioner of Income Tax (Departmental Representative) on  30.03.2016. Taking strength from the then existing proviso to Section 153(2A),  it is urged that time available then to the AO in this case was only up-to  31.12.2016, for working out of the remand and completing the assessment. <\/p>\n<p>3. The revenue resisted the  proceedings and urged that the impugned order was made within the time  prescribed. Firstly, it is urged that petitioners cannot be heard to complain  as they did not attend to the queries and co-operate in an assessment  proceeding which got delayed. Learned counsel emphasized that as a result the  petitioners could not be given any discretionary relief given that the  petitioner was an entry provider\/facilitator and that the search resulted in  addition of `70 crores as  income in his hand. <\/p>\n<p>Secondly,  it was argued that the plain reading of Section 153A of the Act would reveal  that it overrides the other provisions of the Act &ndash; because of the <em>non-obstante <\/em>clause. Elaborating further, it was submitted that period of limitation  prescribed by Section 153B i.e. two years is substantial that excludes search  assessment and therefore, excludes applicability of Section 153(2A) which is  general and governs all demands other than those concerning search assessment. <\/p>\n<p>4.  The question as to what would be the starting point of limitation with respect  to any proceedings which are to be initiated by the revenue or any steps to be  taken by it, was the precise issue of point of determination by this Court in <em>Odeon  Builders <\/em>(supra). The Court then held as follows: <\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;28.  The above decisions under Section 256 (3) are clearly distinguishable. The  limitation for the purpose of Section 256 begins to run the moment the order is  communicated to the parties. Another distinction to be drawn is that the word  used in Section 256 of the Act &ldquo;served&rdquo; whereas under Section 260A it is  &ldquo;received&rdquo;. The word &ldquo;received&rdquo; has to be seen in the context of the decision  in CIT v. Sudhir Choudhrie (supra), which made it mandatory for pronouncement  of the orders of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal. At the time of such  pronouncement, apart from the authorized representative of the assessee, the  Departmental representative is expected to remain present. Through him the  Department becomes immediately aware of the said judgment of the Income-tax  Appellate Tribunal. The &ldquo;concerned&rdquo; Commissioner of Income-tax <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>43.  Viewed differently, the contextual interpretation of the expression &ldquo;receive&rdquo;  would be when the parties notified of the pronouncement are represented at that  time in the open court. When pronounced, both parties are said to receive it.  The agency which they choose for transmission to the official or executive  component to authorise an appeal is not the concern of the judicial system. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>49.  Consequently, where the order is common to several appeals, while for the  assessee the starting point for limitation will be when the assessee aggrieved  by such order first receives a copy thereof; for the Revenue, the date when the  Department representative of the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) first  receives a copy thereof will be the starting point for limitation for all the  appeals. 50. It is, therefore, not possible to accept the submission that till  a particular jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax or Principal  Commissioner of Income-tax has not received the order of the Income-tax  Appellate Tribunal, the period of limitation for filing an appeal against that  order does not commence. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answers  to the questions <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>51.  The answers to the questions referred to this Court are answered thus: <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Question  : (i) What is the correct interpretation to be placed on the expression  &ldquo;received by the assessee or the Principal Chief Commissioner or the Chief  Commissioner or Principal Commissioner&rdquo; in Section 260A (2) (a) of the Act ?  Does it mean &ldquo;received&rdquo; by any of the named officers including the Commissioner  of Income-tax (Judicial)? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : The word &ldquo;received&rdquo; occurring in section 260A (2) (a) would mean received by  any of the named officers of the Department, including Commissioner of  Income-tax (Judicial). The provision at present names four particular officers  i.e. the Principal Commissioner, Commissioner, Principal Chief Commissioner, and  the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>These  are the only designations of the officers who could receive a copy of the  order. In the absence of a qualifying prefix &ldquo;concerned&rdquo;, the receipt of a copy  of the order of the Income- tax Appellate Tribunal by any of those officers in  the Department including the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) will trigger  the period of limitation. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Question:  (ii) Does limitation begin to run for the purposes of Section 260A (2)(a) only  when a certified copy of the order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal is  received by the &ldquo;concerned&rdquo; Commissioner of Income-tax within whose  jurisdiction the case of the assessee falls notwithstanding that it may have  been received by any other Commissioner of Income- tax, including the Commissioner  of Income-tax (Judicial) prior thereto? Is it open to the court to read the  word &ldquo;concerned&rdquo; into section 260A(2(a) of the Act as a prefix to any of the  officers of the Department named therein? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : In section 260A(2) of the Act, the words Commissioner of Income-tax,  Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or Chief Commissioner of Income-tax are  not prefixed or qualified by the word &ldquo;concerned&rdquo;. There is no warrant for the  court to read into the provision such a qualifying word. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The  Court rejects the contention of the Revenue that limitation for the purposes of  section 260A(2)(a) begins to run only when a certified copy of the order of the  Income-tax Appellate Tribunal is received by the &ldquo;concerned&rdquo; Commissioner of  Income-tax within whose jurisdiction the case of the assessee falls  notwithstanding that it may have been received by any other Commissioner of  Income-tax, including the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) prior thereto. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Question  : (iii) In the context of section 254 (3) of the Act, is there an obligation on  the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal to send a certified copy of its order to a  Commissioner of Income-tax other than the one whose details are given to it  during the pendency of the appeal? Will change in the jurisdiction concerning  the case of the respondent-assessee to another Commissioner of Income-tax  subsequent to the order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal have the effect of  postponing the time, from which limitation would begin to run in terms of  section 260A(2)(a) of the Act, to when such Commissioner of Income-tax receives  the order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal? <\/em> <\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : As far as the obligation of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal under Section  254 (3) of the Act is concerned, the said obligation is satisfied once the  Income-tax Appellate Tribunal sends a copy of an order passed by it to the  assessee as well as to the Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or the  Commissioner of Income-tax or even the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial).  The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal has to be simply go by the details as  provided to it in the memo of parties. If there is a change concerning the  jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Income-tax and it is some other  Commissioner of Income-tax who has jurisdiction, it will not have the effect of  postponing the commencement of the period of limitation in terms of section  260A(2)(a) of the Act. The statute is not concerned with the internal  arrangements that the Department may make by changing the jurisdiction of its  officers. It is for the officer of the Department who first receives a copy of  the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal&#8223;s order to reach it in time to the officer  who has to take a decision regarding the filing of an appeal. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Question  : (iv) After the decision of this court in CIT v. Sudhir Choudhrie [2005]278  ITR 490 (<\/em><em>Delhi<\/em><em>), do the  decisions in CIT v. Arvind Construction Co. (P.) Ltd. [1992] 193 ITR 330 and  CIT v. ITAT [2000] 245 ITR 659 (<\/em><em>Delhi<\/em><em>) require to  be reconsidered, explained or reconciled? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : The decisions in CIT v. Arvind Construction Co. (P) Ltd. (supra) and CIT v.  ITAT (supra) were rendered in the context of Section 256 of the Act (and not  Section 260A(2)(a) of the Act) and also prior to the decision in CIT v. Sudhir  Choudhrie (supra). While the former decisions may not require reconsideration,  they require to be reconciled with the latter decision in CIT v. Sudhir  Choudhrie (supra). The decisions in CIT v. Arvind Construction Co. (P) Ltd.  (supra) and CIT v. ITAT (supra) are of no assistance to the Revenue in its  interpretation of Section 260A(2)(a) of the Act.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&nbsp;Question : (v) After the change of procedure  where orders of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal are pronounced in the open,  is it incumbent on the Department through its Departmental representative or  Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) to apply for a certified copy of the order  of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal and should limitation for the purposes of  Section 260A(2)(a) be computed from the date on which such certified copy is  made ready for delivery by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : While there is no requirement for the Departmental representative or the  Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) to apply for a certified copy of the  Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, in any event under the extant Income-tax  Appellate Tribunal Rules, a copy of the order is sent to the Commissioner of  Income-tax (Judicial). In the context of Section 260A(2)(a) of the Act, once an  order is listed for pronouncement in the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, the  Departmental representative or the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) should  be taken to be aware of the order. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>From  that point, it is a purely an internal administrative arrangement as to how the  Departmental representative or Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) obtains  and further communicates the order to the officer who has to take a decision on  filing the appeal. It is possible that immediately after pronouncement, the  authorized representative or the Departmental representative or both may apply  for a certified copy of the order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal. In that  case, the time taken for the certified copy to be readied for collection by the  applicant will be excluded while computing limitation. But here again, if  earlier to such date, a copy is received by a party from the Income-tax  Appellate Tribunal, then such earlier date will be the starting point for  limitation. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Question  : (vi) Whether the receipt of a certified copy of the order of the Income-tax  Appellate Tribunal by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) is sufficient  to trigger the commencement of the limitation period under Section 260 A (2)  (a) of the Act? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : The receipt of a certified copy of the order of the Income-tax Appellate  Tribunal by Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) would trigger the  commencement of the limitation period under Section 260 A (2) (a) of the Act. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong> <br \/>\n    <em>Question : (vii) In the context  of a common order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal covering several  appeals, whether limitation for all the appeals would begin to run when the  certified copy is received first by either the Commissioner of Income-tax  (Judicial) or any one of the officers of the Department mentioned in Section  260 A (2) (a) or only when the Commissioner of Income-tax &ldquo;concerned&rdquo; receives  it? Where the same Commissioner of Income-tax has jurisdiction over more than  one assessee in the batch, will limitation begin to run for all such appeals  when such Commissioner of Income-tax receives the order in either of the  assessee&#8217;s cases? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Answer : Where there, is a  common order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal covering the several appeals,  limitation would begin to run when a certified copy is received first by either  the Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) or one of the officers of the  Department and not only when the Commissioner of Income-tax &ldquo;concerned&rdquo;  receives it. When the same Commissioner of Income-tax has jurisdiction for more  than one assessee, the limitation begin to run for all from the earliest of the  dates when the Departmental representative of Commissioner of Income-tax  (Judicial) or any Commissioner of Income-tax first receives the order in any of  the cases forming part of the batch disposed of by the common order. If there  are four separate orders passed, then the limitation begins to run when such  separate orders are received first by any officer of the Department. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Question: (viii) Whether  administrative instructions issued by the Department for its own administrative  convenience can have the effect of altering the time from which limitation will  begin to run for the purposes of Section 260 A(2) (a) of the Act? <\/em> <\/p>\n<p><em>Answer  : Instructions issued by the Department for its administrative convenience  cannot alter the time when limitation would begin to run under Section 260A (2)  (a) of the Act. To reiterate these administrative instructions are for the  administrative convenience of the Department and will not override the statute,  in particular, Section 260A (2) (a) of the Act.<\/em>&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>5.  It is quite evident from the decision in <em>Odeon Builders <\/em>(supra) that  limitation begins (for any purpose under the Act) from the point of time when  the departmental representative receives the copy of a decision or an order of  the ITAT. The evidence on record in this case clearly establishes that the  concerned DR (a Commissioner ranking officer) nominated by the revenue received  a copy of the ITAT order dated 30.03.2016. <\/p>\n<p>The  Starting point of limitation therefore was 31.03.2016. <\/p>\n<p>6.  The next question is whether the <em>non-obstante <\/em>clause under Section 153  of the Act, which prescribes a specific period of limitation to complete a  search assessment for the block period concerned, could override the general  period of limitation. In this context, the Court notices that Section 153 of  the Act generally talks of various periods of limitation. It prescribes that no  order of assessment shall be made either under Section 143 or Section 144 of  the Act any time after expiry of twenty one months from the end of the  assessment year in which the income was first assessable. The exception carved  by way of Section 153(2) &ndash; relates to reassessment and states that in cases  covered by it, the period is reduced to nine months from any of financial year  in which the notice for re-assessment is served. The relevant provision which  applies at that point of time for purpose of this case, reads as follows: <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<em>(2A) Notwithstanding anything  contained in sub-sections (1), (1A), (1B) and (2), in relation to the  assessment year commencing on the 1<\/em><em>st <\/em><em>day of April,  1971 and any subsequent assessment year, an order of fresh assessment in  pursuance of an order under Section 250 or section 254 or section 263 or  section 264, setting aside or cancelling an assessment, may be made at any time  before the expiry of one year from the end of the financial year in which the  order under Section 250 or section 254 is received by the Principal Chief  Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner  or, as the case may be, the order under Section 263 or Section 264 is passed by  the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal  Commissioner or Commissioner &rdquo; <\/em> <\/p>\n<p>7.  During the relevant period when the assessment was completed, the period  prescribed was nine months (on account of substitution carried out by the  amendment). The special provision under Section 153B of the Act in the opinion  of the Court carves out a special period of limitation without which  search\/block assessments would not be completed. The entire provisions under  Chapter XIV relating to block assessment, have been termed by the Supreme Court  to be a complete code. At the same time, a specific period of limitation  prescribed is for completion of original block assessments for the search and  seizure proceedings. The period for issuing notice and completion of block  assessment for all the concerned years (7 years) is within two years. Now, in  the opinion of the Court, to apply that general two years limitation, the block  reassessment proceeding after remand is not a feasible proposition. In the  judgments in <em>Nokia India (P) Ltd. vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, <\/em>(2017)  85 Taxmann.com 291 (Del.) as well as <em>Commissioner  of Income Tax vs. Bhan Textile P. Ltd., <\/em>(2008) 300 ITR 176 (Del.) are relevant  authorities. <\/p>\n<p>In <em>Principal Commissioner of Income Tax vs. PPC Business and Products P. Ltd., <\/em>(2017)  398 ITR 71 (Del.), this Court emphasized the need to initiate the proceedings  wherever the revenue wished to proceed further in case of search and seizure  within the time and underlined that in case the assessments are not initiated  and completed within the time prescribed, the valuable right accrues to the  assessee. <\/p>\n<p>8.  The general provision of two years, in the opinion of the Court, has been  provided with one important objective i.e. to cater to a specific situation  where upon search and seizure operation, if new material is found, already  completed assessments are revisited. Had Parliament not prescribed such a  specific period of limitation, possibly, the assessee&rsquo;s concern would have  successfully urged that search and seizure proceedings would be confined only  to the concerned year in which the search operation took place. It was proposed  to tide over such situation. The only provision that prescribed a period of  limitation in respect of remands at the relevant time at least in this case is  Section 153(2A). In that sense, that period of limitation prescribed for  completion of remand (nine months) constituted a special provision, which  applies to every class of remand regardless whether they originate from  assessments\/re-assessments\/revisions or search and seizure assessments. <\/p>\n<p>In these circumstances, completion of the assessment  proceedings for the block period by the impugned order dated 22.12.2017 was  clearly beyond the period of limitation. As noticed earlier, the last date by  which the remand order could have been worked out validly was 31.12.2016. <\/p>\n<p>9. For the forgoing reasons, the petitions have to succeed.  The impugned order pursuant to the remand dated 22.12.2017 and all  consequential orders and actions are hereby quashed. The writ petitions are  allowed. All the pending applications stand disposed of. <\/p>\n<p><strong>S. RAVINDRA BHAT (JUDGE) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A.K.CHAWLA JUDGE) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>OCTOBER 01, 2018<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The next question is whether the non-obstante clause under Section 153 of the Act, which prescribes a specific period of limitation to complete a search assessment for the block period concerned, could override the general period of limitation. In this context, the Court notices that Section 153 of the Act generally talks of various periods of limitation. It prescribes that no order of assessment shall be made either under Section 143 or Section 144 of the Act any time after expiry of twenty one months from the end of the assessment year in which the income was first assessable. The exception carved by way of Section 153(2) \u2013 relates to reassessment and states that in cases covered by it, the period is reduced to nine months from any of financial year in which the notice for re-assessment is served<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/surendra-kumar-jain-vs-pcit-delhi-high-court-search-assessments-the-time-limit-of-2-years-u-s-153b-for-framing-search-assessment-orders-applies-only-to-the-original-order-and-to-orders-passed-after\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-judgements","category-high-court","judges-a-k-chawla-j","judges-ravindra-bhat-j","section-1532a","section-153b","counsel-piyush-kaushik","court-delhi-high-court","catchwords-limitation-period","catchwords-search-assessment","genre-domestic-tax"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}