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of <h1>JAO initiation of reassessment proceedings u/ss 148A and 148 after Faceless Scheme held invalid; notices quashed</h1> Dominant issue: Whether the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) could validly initiate proceedings under sections 148A and 148 after implementation of ... Initiation of proceedings u/s 148(A) and 148 by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) - Faceless Assessment - Initiation of proceedings under Sections 148A and 148 - Jurisdiction of the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer to initiate proceedings u/s 148A and 148 after the Faceless Scheme came into force - HELD THAT:- The legal issue as regards the lack of jurisdiction on the part of JAO to initiate the proceedings post implementation of the Faceless Scheme is no longer res integra as it has been held in the case of Kankanala Ravindra Reddy [2023 (9) TMI 951 - TELANGANA HIGH COURT] the impugned notices issued and the proceedings drawn by the respondent-Department is neither tenable, nor sustainable. The notices so issued and the procedure adopted being per se illegal, deserves to be and are accordingly set aside/quashed. As a consequence, all the impugned orders getting quashed, the consequential orders passed by the respondent-Department pursuant to the notices issued under Sections 147 and 148 would also get quashed The writ petitions are allowed on the jurisdictional ground: notices and proceedings initiated under Sections 148A and 148 by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer after the Faceless Scheme came into force are set aside and consequential orders quashed, subject to the liberty reserved to the Revenue to pursue further action as indicated by this Court. Issues: Whether proceedings initiated under Section 148A followed by notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) after 29.03.2022 (post implementation of the Faceless Assessment Scheme) are valid or are without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed.Analysis: The issue centres on the interaction between the Faceless Assessment Scheme (effective from 29.03.2022) and the statutory provisions governing reopening of assessment (notably Sections 148A and 148). The Court relied upon and followed prior reasoned decisions holding that, after implementation of the Faceless Scheme and the e-Assessment mechanism under the e-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2002, initiation of proceedings by the JAO in place of the Faceless Assessing Officer is inconsistent with the Scheme and results in lack of jurisdiction. The Court noted that multiple coordinate High Court decisions have applied this legal framework and that the present matters fall within that settled view. The Court also recorded that the revenue retains liberty to proceed in accordance with the limited protection previously recognised where applicable and subject to the outcome of pending SLPs before the Supreme Court.Conclusion: The initiation of proceedings under Sections 148A and 148 by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer after 29.03.2022 is without jurisdiction and the impugned proceedings and consequential orders are set aside/quashed in favour of the assessee.
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