Reassessment limitation: notice issued post-amendment but based on pre-amendment law is time-barred and quashed for the assessment year concerned.

Notice under Section 148 issued for AY 2014-15 based on pre-amendment law is time-barred: the court applied the principle that reassessment powers cannot revive a vested right once the pre-amendment limitation has expired, rejected reliance on interim notifications and interlocutory bench decisions to extend limitation, and held that substantive taxing provisions are to be strictly construed; consequence - the Section 148 notice was without jurisdiction and was quashed and set aside.

---

---

Issues: Whether the notice issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2014-2015, issued after the amendment to the Finance Act w.e.f. 01.04.2021 but based on pre-amendment provisions, is barred by limitation.

Analysis: The Court considered the effect of the amended reassessment provisions and the timeline for issuance of notices, including the applicability of pre-amendment limitation rules, the Interim/temporary notifications relied upon by Revenue, and the decisions of coordinate Benches (including The New India Assurance Company Limited and Godrej Industries Limited). The Court examined principles regarding vested rights and time-barred actions, the scope of exclusion periods (TOLA), the contention that notices issued between 1 April 2021 and 30 June 2021 could be treated as within limitation, and the interplay of the Supreme Court orders (including the exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India) with statutory limitation under Section 149. The Court applied the settled rule that a notice under Section 148 cannot be issued where the right to reopen was already barred under the pre-amended law and that substantive taxing provisions must be strictly construed, leading to the view that reopening after the statutory limitation is without jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The notice issued under Section 148 for Assessment Year 2014-2015 is barred by limitation and is quashed and set aside.

---