Supreme Court upholds order for I-T to reassess ex-CJI's sons' income
The court dismissed an appeal by Chetan and Nitin Sabharwal, ruling that the income tax department can reassess income based on new evidence.
The Supreme Court has upheld a Delhi High Court order allowing the Income Tax department to reassess the income of the sons of former Chief Justice of India YK Sabharwal for the years 2008-09 and 2009-10, according to the Times of India.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran dismissed the appeal filed by the Sabharwals. The bench stated that the 2015 notice issued by the department was valid as it was based on recorded reasons and tangible material from an investigation unit report.
The court noted that Chetan Sabharwal, his brother Nitin Sabharwal, and two other shareholders entered into share purchase agreements with GYS Real Estate Pvt Ltd. These agreements involved the sale of 7.5 lakh equity shares of Pawan Impex (P) Ltd for Rs 195 crore and 2.5 lakh equity shares of SVIIT Software (P) Ltd for Rs 60 crore.
The DGIT Investigation Unit, Noida, concluded that the shares of both companies were overvalued when compared to the cost of their land and building. The bench said the notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act was based on these findings.
The investigation revealed that the appellants purchased a half share of a property at Sikandara Road, Delhi, in April 2010 through a court auction. The enquiries suggested the major source of this investment was the sale proceeds from the shares.