Digital signing alone does not issue a reassessment notice; e-mail dispatch after limitation expiry makes it time barred.

Digitally signing a reassessment notice under section 148 does not by itself amount to issuance for limitation purposes under section 149. The statutory scheme requires issuance or electronic communication in the prescribed manner, and under the Information Technology Act an electronic record is dispatched only when it enters a computer resource outside the originator's control. On that basis, a notice sent by e-mail after the limitation period had expired was treated as time barred, because issuance was completed only on dispatch beyond the assessing authority's control.

---

---

Issues: Whether digitally signing a notice under section 148 amounts to issuance of notice for the purpose of limitation under section 149, and whether the reassessment notice sent by e-mail after the expiry of limitation was time barred.

Analysis: The statutory scheme distinguishes between signing of a notice and its issuance or communication. Section 282A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 requires a notice to be signed and issued in paper form or communicated electronically in accordance with the prescribed procedure, while Rule 127A of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 contemplates electronic communication through the designated e-mail address. Section 13 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 fixes the point of dispatch of an electronic record as the time when it enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator. On that basis, mere digital signing does not complete issuance; issuance occurs when the digitally signed notice is dispatched beyond the control of the assessing authority. Applying that test, the notice received on 06.04.2021 was beyond the last date of limitation, which had expired on 31.03.2021.

Conclusion: Digitally signing the notice was not enough to amount to issuance of notice, and the notice under section 148 was time barred.

---