Reopening assessments require prior specified authority approval under Section 151; notice issued without such approval held invalid.

Validity of reopening of assessment focuses on the mandatory requirement of prior approval by the specified authority before issuing a notice beyond three years. The legal basis is that the prescribed satisfaction/approval by the distinct specified authority is jurisdictional and mandatory, and failure to obtain it vitiates the notice and renders proceedings invalid. Where more than three years have elapsed, approval must originate from the designated higher authority and cannot be substituted by a lower officer; absence of such specified-authority approval results in the notice being without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment notice issued under Section 148 for AY 2014-15 is invalid for want of prior approval from the specified authority under Section 151 when more than three years have elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year.

Analysis: Section 151 prescribes the specified authority whose prior sanction is a precondition for issuance of a notice under Section 148; the new regime (effective 1 April 2021) requires a higher level of authority where more than three years have elapsed. The statutory scheme links the time elapsed with the level of authority competent to grant sanction and makes grant of sanction a jurisdictional precondition to assume jurisdiction under Section 148. Non-compliance with the mandatory procedure under Section 151 vitiates the reassessment proceedings. The proviso in the legislative scheme and the temporal adjustments under TOLA operate to determine whether extended time for sanction applies, but do not substitute for the requirement that the sanction must be granted by the authority specified for the relevant elapsed period. Factual material on record shows the sanction was not accorded by the authority specified under Section 151(ii) for notices issued after three years.

Conclusion: The notice under Section 148 is invalid for want of prior approval by the specified authority under Section 151(ii); the reassessment and related proceedings are quashed. The appeal is allowed in favour of the assessee.

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