Home › Income-Tax Act › Sushen Mohan Gupta v. ACIT (2025) 236 TTJ 32 (Delhi)(Trib)

Sushen Mohan Gupta v. ACIT (2025) 236 TTJ 32 (Delhi)(Trib)

S. 153D: Assessment-Search-Approval-Failure to examine the seized documents-Addl. CIT approved 86 other orders pertaining to different assessees in these three days. The language of all these approvals is identical-The approving authority has granted common approval for all the assessment years in respect of the assessee-while granting the approval, the benefit of presumption under S. 114(e) of the Indian Evidence Act that all official acts are regularly performed is not available to the Revenue. The assessment order was held to be void ab initio, hence quashed. [S.153A, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, S.114(e)]

 

 

Held that the Addl. CIT has granted omnibus approval under s. 153D to the draft assessment orders pertaining to eleven assessment years within three days, merely stating that the approval is accorded after perusing the draft assessment orders and the case records without providing any further details and without stating that the seized material or the appraisal report has been perused by her, it is clear that the approval under S. 153D has been granted by the Addl. CIT in a mechanical manner without due application of mind and, therefore, the assessment framed by the AO is void ab initio. (AY. 2011-12 to 2017-18)

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