DELOITTE CONSULTING INDIA PVT. LTD. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS MASTEK DC OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PVT. LTD.) Vs. ASST. CIT, CIRCLE 2(2)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a set of two appeals by the assessee, i.e., for two consecutive years, being assessment years 2004 -05 & 2005 -06, arising out of the separate orders by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) -5, Mumbai (CIT (A) for short) of even date, i.e., 29.11.2013, confirming the levy of penalty u/s. 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act ('the Act' herein after) for the relevant years. The issues arising in both the appeals being the same, the appeals were heard together, and are being disposed of vide a common, consolidated order.

(2.) AT the very outset it was brought to our notice by the ld. Authorized Representative (AR), the assessee's counsel, that the Hon'ble jurisdictional High Court has since modified the stay order as passed by the Tribunal, and which would thus obtain, even as the certified copy of its order is as yet neither available from the Registry nor available on line. The hearing in the case was accordingly proceeded with on that basis. The order by the Hon'ble court stood subsequently, i.e., vide its letter dated 18/2/2014, brought on record by the assessee.

(3.) WE shall begin by recounting the back -ground facts of the case. The assessee, incorporated as a private limited company on 30/7/2001, is a joint venture company of Mastek Limited and Deloitte Consulting. While Mastek, which along with its affiliates holds 50.1 percent of shares, is a publically held Indian information technology application outsourcing company, Deloitte Consulting (DC), registered as a limited partnership in New York, USA, holding as a group the balance 49.9 percent shareholding, is a one of the world's leading management consulting firms.