Sec. 92C of Income Tax Act, 1961 - Transfer Pricing - The petitioner challenged a reference made by Dy. CIT to TPO in case of the petitioner and consequential order dated 15.9.2017 passed by the TPO in which he made no upward adjustment on the “specified domestic transactions” of the petitioner. High Court quashed the impugned reference and the order holding that ”the AO had no authority to make any reference to the TPO to ascertain the arm's length price of the petitioner's specified domestic transactions. Reference itself was therefore, invalid. CBDT's circular dated 10.3.2006 could not have and does not lay down anything to the contrary. The circular merely prescribes the circumstances under which the AO would make reference to the TPO. Nowhere does the circular provide that as soon as such circumstances exist, the AO would make a reference to the TPO, irrespective of the fact that the assessee had opted for safe harbour and such option was treated or deemed to be treated as validly exercised. Legally speaking, CBDT could not have given any such directive. Eventually no such directive can be discerned from the circular“. - MEHSANA DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION LTD. V/s DEPUTY CIT - [2020] 426 ITR 096 (GUJ)