Reassessment limitation under the relaxed regime barred notice and section 148A(d) order for assessment year 2015-16.

Reassessment notices issued on or after 01.04.2021 for assessment year 2015-16 were treated as unsustainable because they fell outside the period saved under the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020, as reflected in the Supreme Court's concession in Rajeev Bansal. Applying that limitation ruling, the Delhi HC held that the notice under section 148 and the order under section 148A(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could not stand, and both were set aside.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment notice dated 19.07.2022 and the order dated 19.07.2022 issued for assessment year 2015-16 were liable to be set aside in view of the Supreme Court's ruling on limitation under the reassessment regime.

Analysis: The Revenue accepted that the case was covered by the concession recorded by the Supreme Court in Rajeev Bansal, under which notices issued on or after 01.04.2021 for assessment year 2015-16 could not be sustained because they did not fall within the period saved by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020. The Court therefore applied that concession to the impugned notice and order under sections 148A(d) and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Conclusion: The impugned order dated 19.07.2022 under section 148A(d) and the notice dated 19.07.2022 under section 148 were set aside, and the writ petition was allowed.

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