Reassessment under Sections 148A(d) and 148 quashed; original income tax assessment restored following Godrej Industries precedent

HC allowed the writ petition, holding that the impugned reassessment proceedings were invalid. Both parties accepted that the controversy was squarely covered by the HC's recent decision in Godrej Industries Ltd. Applying that precedent, the HC quashed and set aside the orders passed under s.148A(d) and the consequent notices issued under s.148 of the Income-tax Act. All consequential notices and orders were also annulled. The result is that the original assessments remain undisturbed, and the Revenue is barred from proceeding with the challenged reassessment for the relevant year.

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The High Court quashed the impugned orders passed under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the consequential notices issued under Section 148, along with any consequential notices or orders. Both sides agreed that the controversy in the present writ petition is covered by the recent decision of the same Court in *Godrej Industries Ltd. v. The Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle 14(1)(2), Mumbai and Ors.* [Writ Petition No. 450 of 2023, dated 28 February 2024]. Following that precedent, the Court held that the reassessment proceedings were vitiated on the ground of limitation. On this basis alone, the petition was disposed of. The Court clarified that, since disposal was "only on the issue of limitation," the petitioner is at liberty to raise all other contentions taken in the petition independently, "if the need arise in other matters," thereby preserving those issues for future adjudication in appropriate proceedings.

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