Faceless reassessment proceedings under Sections 148A and 148 require prescribed procedure; jurisdictional initiation is vulnerable to invalidation.

Proceedings under Sections 148A and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 are required to follow the faceless mechanism prescribed under Section 151A, as implemented through the Finance Act, 2021 and Notification 18/2022. The legal position described in the notes treats initiation by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer, rather than through the prescribed faceless process, as a jurisdictional and procedural illegality. Pending Supreme Court challenges, without an interim stay, do not displace that position. Consequently, proceedings and consequential orders based on such invalid initiation are liable to be set aside and quashed.

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Issues: Whether proceedings initiated under Sections 148A and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer, instead of through the prescribed faceless mechanism, were legally sustainable.

Analysis: Section 151A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as implemented pursuant to the Finance Act, 2021 and Notification 18/2022 dated 29.03.2022, required the relevant proceedings under Sections 148A and 148 to be undertaken in a faceless manner. The established decision of the High Court, supported by consistent decisions of several other High Courts, treated initiation of such proceedings through the jurisdictional Assessing Officer as a jurisdictional and procedural illegality. Pendency of challenges before the Supreme Court, without any interim order staying the decisions, did not displace their binding effect. The consequential proceedings were therefore liable to fall with the invalid initiation.

Conclusion: The proceedings initiated under Sections 148A and 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the consequential orders, if any, were set aside and quashed on the jurisdictional issue.

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