Reassessment notices under old regime and TOLA quashed, following Hexaware precedent; all related demands and penalties set aside

HC held that the impugned reassessment notices and orders, issued under provisions that had ceased to exist under the old regime and in view of TOLA, are covered by the earlier decision in Hexaware Technologies Ltd. Both parties agreed that the present petitions are governed by that precedent. Accordingly, all impugned notices and orders, any reassessment orders passed, and all consequential demand and penalty notices were quashed and set aside. The petitions and pending interim applications were disposed of, with unrelated contentions kept open for future adjudication if required.

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Issues: Whether petitions challenging notices, reassessment orders, consequential demand notices and penalty notices are to be quashed as they are covered by the decision in Hexaware Technologies Limited v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax.

Analysis: The Court accepted that the petitions fall within the scope of the earlier decision in Hexaware Technologies Limited v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (Writ Petition No. 1778 of 2023). Applying that precedent, the impugned statutory notices and orders, including any re-assessment orders and consequential demand or penalty notices arising therefrom, were examined and found to be governed by the reasoning and result in the Hexaware decision. The Court further noted that interim applications pending in the petitions become amenable to disposal in light of the main ruling and preserved any contentions not covered by the Hexaware judgment for future raise if necessary.

Conclusion: The notices and orders impugned in the petitions, including any re-assessment orders and consequential demand or penalty notices, are quashed and set aside; interim applications pending in the petitions stand disposed; remaining contentions not covered by the Hexaware decision are left open.

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