Reassessment notice limitation: "issue" under section 148 includes service, so notice must be served within time.

Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 uses the word "issue" in the sense of "serve" for reassessment notices. Reading sections 147 to 151 together and applying the settled interchangeability of "issue" and "serve", the notice that confers reassessment jurisdiction is not complete unless it is both issued and served within the prescribed limitation period. A notice issued within time but served after expiry is ineffective and without jurisdiction. The assessee's contention that service within limitation is mandatory was accepted.

---

---

Issues: Whether the word "issue" in section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 includes service of notice, so that a reassessment notice must be both issued and served within the prescribed limitation period.

Analysis: Sections 147 to 151 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 form a reassessment scheme in pari materia with section 34 of the Income-tax Act, 1922. The expressions "issue" and "serve" have been judicially treated as interchangeable, and the legislature is presumed to have used them with knowledge of that settled interpretation. Reading sections 148 and 149 together, the notice that confers jurisdiction for reassessment is not complete unless it is issued and served within time. A notice issued within limitation but served after limitation is ineffective and without jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The word "issue" in section 148 is used in the same sense as "serve" and includes service of notice. The reassessment notice had to be served within the prescribed period, and the contention of the assessee was accepted.

---