COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, INTERNATIONAL TAXATION-1, NEW DELHI vs CLIFFORD CHANCE PTE LTD.

Judgment text excerpt

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment Reserved on: 09.10.2025 Judgment delivered on: 04.12.2025 Judgment uploaded on: As per Digital Signature~ + ITA 353/2025 + ITA 354/2025 COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, INTERNATIONAL TAXATION-1, NEW DELHI .....Appellant versus CLIFFORD CHANCE PTE LTD .....Respondent Advocates who appeared in this case For the Appellant : Mr. Puneet Rai, SSC, Mr. Ashvini Kr., Mr. Rishabh Nangia, Mr. Gibran, JSC. For the Respondent : Mr. Ajay Vohra, Senior Advocate with Mr. Adityya Vohra, Mr. Kunal Pandey and Mr. Tanmay, Advocates. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR JUDGMENT V. KAMESWAR RAO, J. 1. The captioned appeals under Section 260A of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as „the Act‟) have been filed by the Revenue challenging the common order dated 14.03.2024 of the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as „the Tribunal‟) in Income Tax Signature Not Verified Signed By:PRADEEP ITA No.353-354/2025 Page 1 of 30 SHARMA Signing Date:04.12.2025 15:19:44 Appeal Nos. 2681/Del/2023 and 3377/Del/2023, whereby the appeals of the assessee have been allowed. 2. I.T.A 354/2025 before us is for the Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21 and I.T.A. 353/2025 is for AY 2021-22. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 3. At the outset we may provide a brief factual background of the controversy. The respondent/assessee is non-resident company engaged in the business of legal advisory services. The assessee company filed its return of income for the A.Y. 2020-21 on 29.12.2020 and for the A.Y. 2021-22 on 07.03.2022, both declaring „NIL‟ income. Thereafter, the Assessing Officer (AO) passed draft assessment orders dated 30.09.2022 for AY 2020-21 and 29.12.2022 for AY 2021-22, proposing to make additions of ₹15,55,45,6