High Court Hauls Up ITO For Harassing Taxpayer With Ulterior Motive

CIT vs. Intezar Ali (Allahabad High Court)

CBDT directed to inquire into conduct of AO in framing assessment with ill-will/ ulterior motive

The assessee sold agricultural land for Rs. 1.20 crore and deposited the cash proceeds in his bank account. He filed a return in which the transaction was disclosed and claimed to be not chargeable to tax. However, as the sale deed showed the transaction at Rs. 22 lakh and because the purchasers claimed that the sale value was only Rs. 22 lakh, the AO treated the difference of Rs. 97.80 lakhs as income from undisclosed sources. The AO admitted that the evidence produced by the assessee to show that the land was in fact worth Rs. 1.20 crore and that he had in fact received the said sum from the purchasers prima facie supported the version of the assessee though he still made the addition. The CIT(A) upheld the stand of the AO though the Tribunal reversed it on the ground that the evidence on record showed that the assessee had offered the entire sale proceeds and that the purchasers had sought to undervalue the land. On appeal by the department to the High Court HELD dismissing the appeal:

The assessee is an honest citizen who deposited the entire amount in the bank and voluntarily filed return. He also made a complaint to the registering authority that the sale deed has been registered at a value much below the amount actually received. The other evidence produced by the assessee was more than sufficient to discharge the burden which the AO had unreasonably placed on the assessee. The ITO did not act in a bonafide manner. He discarded the overwhelming evidence led by the assessee without giving any reasons at all. The assessment was framed only on the ipse dixit of the AO which gives us reason to believe that he had exceeded his authority with some ill will or with ulterior motive. The CBDT should cause an enquiry into the conduct and motives of the ITO in framing the assessment and raising demand of income tax against the assessee.

See also Fateh Chand Charitable Trust & Vijay Prakash Agrawal where similar strictures were passed against the department for harassing honest taxpayers