Faceless reassessment procedure is mandatory; Section 148 notice and consequential proceedings were set aside for non-compliance.

Notices issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the consequential proceedings, cannot be sustained where the faceless assessment procedure under Section 144B is not followed. The Punjab and Haryana High Court applied its earlier binding view that initiation of reassessment proceedings without compliance with the prescribed faceless mechanism is contrary to the Act and suffers from a jurisdictional infirmity. On that basis, the impugned notice dated 28.03.2024 and the resulting proceedings were set aside.

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Issues: Whether notice issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the consequential proceedings were sustainable when the faceless assessment procedure under Section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was not followed.

Analysis: The petition was disposed of in line with the earlier binding view of the Court that notices under Section 148 and subsequent proceedings, when initiated without following the faceless assessment mechanism prescribed under Section 144B, were contrary to the Act and could not be sustained. The Court applied that view to the present case and treated the impugned notice and proceedings as falling within the same jurisdictional infirmity.

Conclusion: The notice under Section 148 dated 28.03.2024 and the consequential proceedings were set aside.

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