In Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle-25 v. Honey Arora (ITAT Delhi, order dated 09 January 2026), the Delhi Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal examined the validity of assessments framed under Section 153A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for multiple assessment years pursuant to search proceedings.

The Tribunal noted that the prescribed authority had granted a single consolidated approval under Section 153D for ten assessment years, namely AYs 2010-11 to 2019-20. Relying on settled judicial precedents, the Tribunal held that such composite approval does not satisfy the statutory requirement, as Section 153D mandates separate and independent approval for each assessment year, even where the assessments pertain to the same assessee.

Placing reliance on the decisions in PCIT v. Shiv Kumar Nayyar (Delhi High Court), PCIT v. Anuj Bansal (Supreme Court), and PCIT v. MDLR Hotels (P.) Ltd. (Delhi High Court), the Tribunal concluded that failure to grant year-wise approval vitiates the entire assessment proceedings. Accordingly, the impugned assessments were quashed at the threshold on jurisdictional grounds, rendering all other issues on merits academic.

As a result, the Revenue’s appeals were dismissed and the assessee’s cross-objections were allowed.

 Source Link-

https://itat.gov.in/public/files/upload/1768212084-TURyeK-1-TO.pdf

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