Reassessment notices after the 2021 substitution had to follow the new statutory procedure; delegated extensions could not preserve the old regime.

Notices for reassessment issued after 31 March 2021 had to follow the substituted procedure under the Finance Act, 2021, because the new Sections 147 to 151 governed Section 148 notices issued after that date. The relaxation statute empowered only extension of time limits and could not be used to continue the earlier reassessment regime beyond its statutory cut-off or defer the substituted provisions. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act did not save the old procedure where fresh legislation had replaced it. The explanatory clauses in the extension notifications were therefore beyond delegated power and inconsistent with the parent statute.

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Issues: Whether reassessment notices issued after 31 March 2021 without following the substituted procedure under Sections 147 to 151 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 were valid, and whether the explanatory clauses in the notifications extending the earlier regime were ultra vires the parent relaxation statute.

Analysis: The notices were issued after the substituted reassessment regime came into force on 1 April 2021. The Court held that the new procedure introduced by the Finance Act, 2021 governed notices under Section 148 issued after 31 March 2021. It further held that Section 3(1) of the relaxation statute empowered only extension of time limits and did not permit the Executive to continue the erstwhile reassessment procedure beyond its statutory cut-off or defer the operation of the substituted provisions. The Court also rejected reliance on Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, as the repeal was followed by fresh legislation on the same subject. The impugned explanatory clauses in the notifications were therefore found to be beyond delegated power and inconsistent with the statute.

Conclusion: The explanatory clauses were declared ultra vires, and the reassessment notices issued under Section 148 were quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: Once Parliament substitutes the reassessment provisions with effect from a specified date, notices issued thereafter must comply strictly with the substituted procedure, and delegated notifications cannot extend the superseded regime or override the legislative mandate.

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