Reassessment notice limitation challenge fails where Section 148 notice is issued too late and cannot be cured by a subsequent notice.

A notice issued under Section 148 for assessment year 2013-14 was treated, in light of Ashish Agarwal, as a Section 148A(b) notice, but it remained time-barred because it was issued at the tail end of limitation and no further valid notice under Section 148 could be issued thereafter. The court also found that the notice was not within the additional period under the fourth proviso to Section 149(1), and the later notice dated 27.06.2022 did not cure the defect. The impugned notice and the proceedings founded on it were therefore invalid.

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Issues: Whether the impugned notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the proceedings based on it were barred by limitation.

Analysis: The notice under Section 148 issued in respect of the assessment year 2013-14 was required, in the light of the Supreme Court directions in Ashish Agarwal, to be treated as a notice under Section 148A(b). The Assessing Officer had already issued the notice at the tail end of the limitation period and, on the Court's reasoning, no further time remained for issuance of a valid notice under Section 148. The notice was also not issued within the additional period available under the fourth proviso to Section 149(1), and the subsequent notice dated 27.06.2022 did not cure the defect.

Conclusion: The impugned notice was held to be barred by limitation and invalid.

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