Invalid reassessment sanction under section 151 rendered the reopening void ab initio for want of competent approval.

Reopening was invalid because, for an assessment year more than three years after its end, section 151 required approval from the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, not the Principal Commissioner. Since the section 148 notice and the section 148A(d) order were sanctioned by the wrong authority, the statutory precondition for reassessment was not satisfied. The notice was therefore bad in law and the consequential reassessment proceedings were void ab initio.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment notice and the consequential reassessment proceedings were invalid for want of sanction by the correct specified authority under section 151 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, where more than three years had elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year.

Analysis: The approval for the notice under section 148 and the order under section 148A(d) was granted by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax. For an assessment year beyond three years from its end, section 151 requires approval from the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax or the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. The statutory requirement was therefore not met. Following the jurisdictional and other high court decisions referred to in the order, the absence of approval by the competent authority rendered the reopening invalid. The reassessment proceedings, being founded on a notice issued without the requisite sanction, could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was held to be bad in law and the consequential reassessment order was treated as void ab initio, in favour of the assessee.

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