Court sets aside order & notice under Section 148 of Income Tax Act, 1961, due to error. Matter remanded for review.

The court set aside the impugned order and notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, due to an erroneous consideration of the petitioner's response date. The matter was remanded to the Assessing Officer to review the petitioner's objections within eight weeks. The court clarified that the decision did not address the merits of the case, leaving all parties' rights and contentions open. The writ petition and application were disposed of, granting relief to the petitioner concerning the proper assessment of their objections within the stipulated timeline.

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Issues involved:
Challenge to notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961; Request for extension of time to respond to the notice; Consideration of petitioner's objections by the Assessing Officer.

Analysis:
The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging a notice dated 30th March, 2022 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and sought a direction to restrain the respondent from proceeding with the notice during the pendency of the petition. The petitioner had received a notice on 11th March, 2022 under Section 148A(b) directing a response by 17th March, 2022. The petitioner requested an additional fifteen days to submit its reply, which was filed on 29th March, 2022. However, in the impugned order dated 30th March, 2022, the Revenue erroneously noted that no reply had been filed by the petitioner.

The court noted that the main issue revolved around the request for an extension of time made by the petitioner in a letter dated 17th March, 2022, wherein the petitioner had requested fifteen days to respond to the notice. The court interpreted this request to mean fifteen days from 17th March, 2022. Consequently, the impugned order and the consequential notice issued on 30th March, 2022 were set aside. The matter was remanded back to the Assessing Officer to consider and decide the petitioner's objections dated 29th March, 2022 within eight weeks in accordance with the law.

The court clarified that the decision did not comment on the merits of the controversy, and the rights and contentions of all parties were left open. With this, the writ petition and application were disposed of, providing relief to the petitioner regarding the erroneous consideration of their response and ensuring proper assessment of their objections by the Assessing Officer within the specified timeline.

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