IT : HC upholds Revenues claim for privilege/confidentiality over 2G Spectrum report of DIT(Inv) • The law only requires that the information or material on which the AO records his or her satisfaction that income has escaped assessment is communicated to the asseseee, without mandating the disclosure of any specific document. • Where the reasons recorded have been communicated and do provide - independent of the 2G Report referred to in the reasons - details of the new and tangible information that support the AOs opinion, non-supply of 2G Spectrum report prepared by DIT(Inv) to the assessee on the grounds of confidentiality shall not vitiate the proceedings initiated under section 147 and shall not render the proceedings void. • There is no legal proposition that mandates the disclosure of any additional document. • This is not the say that the AO may in all cases refuse to disclose documents relied upon by him on account of confidentiality, but rather, that fact must be judged on the basis of whether other tangible and specific information is available so as to justify the conclusion irrespective of the contents of the document sought to be kept confidential. • Only when the privilege is claimed as regards the reasons recorded (i.e. the satisfaction note), or when no material is provided in addition to the mere assertion of the subjective satisfaction of the AO, may the principle denying privilege or confidentiality operate. • Even then, the claim for privilege may still prevail in that the Court may consider the manner in which the documents are to be inspected, but such questions does not arise in cases such as the present, where concrete and specific details - which support the belief under section 147/148 - are communicated to the assessee independent of the document sought to be disclosed. • Thus, the non-disclosure of the 2G Spectrum Report does not affect the impugned notice in this case. [2014] 43 taxmann 62 (Delhi) HIGH COURT OF DELHI Acorus Unitech Wireless (P.) Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 10:12:12 +0000
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