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Informist, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the income tax department's plea seeking to reopen assessment of Lupin Ltd.'s income for assessment year 2016-17 on grounds of delay in filing an appeal against a Bombay High Court order. In February, the high court had quashed the income tax department's notices to reopen assessment of Lupin's income. 

 

In 2016, Lupin had filed its return declaring its income at INR 26.36 billion and book profit of INR 39.29 billion. This case was selected for scrutiny and the assessment was completed in 2018. On seeing the records regarding computation of income in 2021, the tax department observed that Lupin had added back a donation amount of INR 249.70 million to its income, which included corporate social responsibility expenses of INR 148.91 million and INR 31.10 million. Thus, the total corporate social responsibility expenditure of INR 180.01 million which was originally disallowed as corporate social responsibility expenses was again claimed entirely under section 35AC and extent of 50% through the route of 80G deductions under the Income Tax Act, 1961, as mentioned in the computation itself, the tax department said.

 

Since both corporate social responsibility expenses and 80G donations are two different modes of ensuring funds for public welfare, treating the same expense under two different heads would defeat its very purpose, the tax department said. "Therefore, I am of the view that income to the extent of amount of Rs. 18,00,06,832/- (INR 180.01 million), as explained above, has escaped assessment," said the department.

 

"Though, this was a case of reopening within 4 years, still, in the absence of any fresh tangible material coming to the knowledge of the assessing officer, reopening of the assessment only on re-examination of the very same material based on which the original assessment order was passed cannot be permitted," the high court said. 

 

At 1137 IST, shares of Lupin Ltd. were down 0.2% at INR 2,027.40 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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