Electronic reassessment notice held issued on dispatch, not receipt, validating the pre-April 2021 notice.

An electronic notice under the reassessment provisions was treated as issued when it was sent through the designated email system, not when it was actually received by the assessee. Applying the service and authentication rules, the Court found that the notice dated 31 March 2021 carried the required authentication particulars and digital signature, so it was issued before 1 April 2021. On that basis, the notice was not invalid on the ground raised, and the separate challenge to the notifications and Explanation extending the earlier reassessment regime did not require adjudication and was treated as not pressed. The writ petitions were dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was issued on or before 1 April 2021 by electronic mode, and whether the challenge to the notifications/Explanation extending the earlier reassessment regime survived in view of that finding.

Analysis: The limitation under Section 149 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 governs issuance of notice under Section 148. Service and authentication provisions under Sections 282 and 282A, together with Rule 127A of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, show that in the case of an electronic notice, the relevant event is issuance or communication from the designated email system, not the time of actual receipt by the assessee. On the facts, the notice bore the date 31 March 2021, was sent by email, carried the requisite authentication particulars, and bore a digital signature. The Court therefore held that the notice had been issued before 1 April 2021. In view of that finding, the separate challenge to the Explanation to Clause A(a) in the notifications did not require adjudication and was treated as not pressed.

Conclusion: The notice was issued before 1 April 2021 and was not invalid on the ground urged by the petitioners. The writ petitions challenging the notices were dismissed, and the challenge to the notifications was also dismissed as not pressed.

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