Disposed¶21

Sabena Puri ( through Constituted Power of Attorney Holder Mr. Dilip Bhagtani ) v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr.

Delhi HC16 Sept 2025W.P.(C)/12698/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Section 153C notice; Section 132 search and seizure; Moser Bear Group; incriminating material; withdrawal/dropping of notice; assessment proceeding dropped; Abhisar Buildwell; UK Paints (Overseas); Saksham Commodities; AY 2014-15 to 2020-21 (petitions for 2015-16 to 2020-21); DCIT Central Circle-20; revival of writ petition; Delhi High Court; W.P.(C) 12698/2024; order dated 16.09.2025; three-week direction; Sabena Puri v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax.

What did the court decide?

Court took on record the respondents' stand that the assessment proceedings will be dropped for want of incriminating material, and directed that appropriate order(s) be passed within three weeks; otherwise, liberty granted to the petitioner to seek revival of the writ petition. ¶21

Sabena Puri ( through Constituted Power of Attorney Holder Mr. Dilip Bhagtani ) Vs Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr. — Delhi HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the notices u/s 153C issued to the petitioner (for AYs 2015-16 to 2020-21) following the search in the Moser Bear Group case were lawful, given the asserted absence of incriminating material pertaining to her. +1 more

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Ratio / Principle

Taking on record the respondents' stand (communication dated 15.09.2025) that in the absence of incriminating material the assessment proceedings will be dropped, the Court directed that appropriate order(s) be passed within three weeks.

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Key takeaways

If the order(s) dropping the proceedings are not passed within three weeks, the petitioner is at liberty to file an application seeking revival of the writ petition.ratio¶22

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court (V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar, JJ.), order dated 16.09.2025 in W.P.(C) 12698/2024 (CM APPL. 52865/2024): Sabena Puri had filed writ petitions for AYs 2015-16 to 2020-21 challenging notices u/s 153C issued to her on 31.03.2024 (for AY-2014-15 to 2020-21) after a Section 132 search and seizure action on Moser Bear Group and others on 07.04.2019, during which documents relating to purchase of land and cash payments were seized. By order dated 28.08.2025 the Court had called for instructions on whether the section 153C notice would be withdrawn/dropped. Pursuant thereto, counsel for the Revenue conveyed a communication dated 15.09.2025 of the DCIT (Central Circle-20) stating that, in compliance with the judgments in M/s Abhisar Buildwell Pvt Ltd, M/s UK Paints (Overseas) Ltd. and Saksham Commodities Ltd. and in the absence of incriminating material qua the petitioner, the assessment proceeding will be dropped. Taking that stand on record, the Court directed appropriate order(s) to be passed within three weeks, failing which the petitioner may seek revival of the writ petition.

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$~56

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- W.P.(C) 12698/2024, CM APPL. 52865/2024 SABENA PURI ( THROUGH CONSTITUTED POWER OF ATTORNEY HOLDER MR. DILIP BHAGTANI ).....Petitioner

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Through: Mr. Sachit Jolly, Sr. Adv. with Ms. Mansa Anand, Mr. Sohum Dua, Mr. Abhyudaya Bajpayee and Mr. Vikram Chowdhary, Adv.

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versus

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DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX & ANR.

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.....Respondents Through: Mr. Ruchir Bhaita, SSC with Mr. Anant Mann and Mr. P. Gupta, JSCs

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR

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O R D E R % 16.09.2025

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Pursuant to the order dated 28.08.2025, Mr. Ruchir Bhatia has

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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:-

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“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.

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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.

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4(a). In response to the writ petitions, your office requested the department to submit para-wise comments with respect to the

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This is a digitally signed order.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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5.The above is for your kind information and necessary action.”

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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.

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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.

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V. KAMESWAR RAO, J

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VINOD KUMAR, J

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2025 cd

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This is a digitally signed order.

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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

Sabena Puri ( through Constituted Power of Attorney Holder Mr. Dilip Bhagtani ) v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Sabena Puri ( through Constituted Power of Attorney Holder Mr. Dilip Bhagtani ) v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

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