Reassessment approval under section 151 by the wrong authority vitiated notice and section 148A(d) order.

Where the relevant assessment year was beyond three years from the end of the year, approval under section 151 had to be obtained from the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, as applicable. Approval instead granted by the Principal Commissioner for the notice under section 148 and the order under section 148A(d) was contrary to section 151, so the reassessment initiation was vitiated. The reassessment notice and the order under section 148A(d) were therefore invalid and quashed in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment notice and the order under section 148A(d) were valid where, for the relevant assessment year, approval under section 151 was granted by the Principal Commissioner instead of the Principal Chief Commissioner.

Analysis: The assessment year was beyond three years from the end of the relevant assessment year, so the specified authority under section 151 was the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, as applicable. The notice under section 148 and the order under section 148A(d) had, however, been approved by the Principal Commissioner. Following the binding Bombay High Court decisions on the same statutory framework, the approval was held to be contrary to section 151 and therefore the reassessment initiation was vitiated.

Conclusion: The reassessment notice and the order under section 148A(d) were invalid and were quashed, in favour of the assessee.

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