SABENA PURI ( THROUGH CONSTITUTED POWER OF ATTORNEY HOLDER MR. DILIP BHAGTANI ) vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX & ANR.

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W.P.(C)/12698/2024HC DelhiDLHC01059949202416 September 2025Bench: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO,HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR2 pages
AI SummaryRemanded

What did the High Court hold?

The Delhi High Court took on record the stand of the respondents (Revenue) that in the absence of incriminating material in the case of the petitioner, the assessment proceedings would be dropped. The Court directed that appropriate orders be passed within a period of three weeks from the date of the order (September 16, 2025). If the orders were not passed within this timeframe, the petitioner would have the liberty to file an application seeking revival of the writ petition. The reasoning was based on the department's own submission acknowledging the lack of incriminating material and their intention to drop the proceedings, aligning with judicial pronouncements on the requirement of such material for Section 153C notices. The operative direction was to drop the proceedings and pass consequential orders.

What were the facts?

A search and seizure action under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, was conducted on April 7, 2019, in the case of Moser Bear Group and others. During this action, documents related to land purchase and cash payments were found and seized. Based on this, notices under Section 153C of the Act were issued to the assessee, Sabena Puri, for Assessment Years (AY) 2014-15 to 2020-21 on March 31, 2024. The assessee filed writ petitions before the Delhi High Court challenging the legality of these Section 153C notices for AYs 2015-16 to 2020-21. The department, in response to a query from the High Court, indicated that in the absence of incriminating material, the case would be completed on the last assessed income without additions. Subsequently, the department communicated that assessment proceedings would be dropped in compliance with certain judgments and the absence of incriminating material.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the notices issued under Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for AYs 2015-16 to 2020-21 are legally valid in the absence of incriminating material found during the search action. The Assessee (Petitioner) contended that the Section 153C notices were issued without any incriminating material pertaining to her, rendering them illegal. The Revenue (Respondents) initially issued the notices based on documents seized during a search action related to a third party. However, the Revenue later submitted that in the absence of any incriminating material in the assessee's case, the assessment proceedings would be dropped. The Revenue also stated that the case was re-opened according to the law in force at the time of notice issuance, but would be dropped in compliance with judgments in cases like M/s Abhisar Buildwell Pvt Ltd, M/s UK Paints (Overseas) Ltd., and Saksham Commodities Ltd., and due to the absence of incriminating material.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 132,Section 153C

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

$~56 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 12698/2024, CM APPL. 52865/2024 SABENA PURI ( THROUGH CONSTITUTED POWER OF ATTORNEY HOLDER MR. DILIP BHAGTANI ).....Petitioner Through: Mr. Sachit Jolly, Sr. Adv. with Ms. Mansa Anand, Mr. Sohum Dua, Mr. Abhyudaya Bajpayee and Mr. Vikram Chowdhary, Adv. versus DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Ruchir Bhaita, SSC with Mr. Anant Mann and Mr. P. Gupta, JSCs CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR O R D E R %

16.09.2025 1. Pursuant to the order dated 28.08.2025, Mr. Ruchir Bhatia has received instructions from the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle, 20, New Delhi vide the communication dated 15.09.2025. The same reads as under:- “2. A search and seizure action under Section 132 of the Act was conducted in the case of Moser Bear Group and others on 07.04.2019. During the course of the search and seizure action at 43B, Okhla Phase-III, New Delhi, certain incriminating documents (pages from 01 to 92 of Annexure A-1') related to purchase of land and payments in cash were found and seized. 3. On the basis of the above information, and after recording satisfaction note, notice(s) u/s 153C were issued to the aforesaid assessee for the AY-2014-15 to 2020-21 on 31.03.2024. 4. In response to the notice(s) u/s 153C, the petitioner filed writ petitions (W.P.(C) 12698/2024) for the AYs 2015-16 to 2020-21 before Hon'ble Delhi High Court, challenging the legality of notice(s) u/s 153C issued in her case. 4(a). In response to the writ petitions, your office requested the department to submit para-wise comments with respect to the This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 27/09/2025 at 11:58:52

writ petition. In response to the same, a note was shared with you vide letter F. No. DCIT/CC-20/2025-26/434 dated 12.08.2025 stating that in absence of any incriminating material, the case of the assessee shall be completed on last assessed income without making any additions. 4(b). Further, the Hon'ble Delhi High Court vide order 28.08.2025 has directed you to seek instructions from the department on whether the notice under section 153C of the Act will be withdrawn/ dropped. 4(c). In this regard, it is stated that the case of the assessee was re-opened u/s 153C of the Act according to the law in force at the time of issuance of notice. However, in compliance of the judgements delivered in the cases of M/s Abhisar Buildwell Pvt Ltd, M/s UK Paints (Overseas) Ltd. & Saksham Commodities Ltd., and in the absence of incriminating material in the case of the Petitioner/assessee, the assessment proceeding will be dropped. 5.The above is for your kind information and necessary action.” 2. According to him, as per his instructions, in the absence of the incriminating material in the case of petitioner, the assessment proceedings will be dropped. If that be so, we by taking on record the stand taken by the respondents vide the aforesaid communication, to drop the proceedings, direct appropriate order(s) be passed within a period of three weeks from today. 3. In the eventuality, the order(s) is not passed within three weeks, liberty shall be with the petitioner to file an application seeking revival of the writ petition. V. KAMESWAR RAO, J VINOD KUMAR, J SEPTEMBER 16, 2025 cd This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 27/09/2025 at 11:58:52

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