Four-week cooling-off rule after disposal of objections bars immediate reassessment; reassessment quashed for non compliance under tax law.

Whether a reassessment under section 143(3) r.w.s. 147 read with section 148 is valid where the AO concluded reassessment within four weeks of disposing objections: the tribunal applied the principle that when objections to reasons for reopening are rejected the Assessing Officer must not proceed further for four weeks from service/disposal of those objections; concluding reassessment within that four week period violates the cooling off mandate and renders reassessment proceedings invalid. Outcome: reassessment quashed in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment order passed under section 143(3) r.w.s. 147 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is invalid where the Assessing Officer framed the assessment within four weeks of disposing of the assessee's objections to the reasons recorded for reopening under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The assessee filed objections to the reasons recorded for reopening and the objections were disposed of on 29.11.2019. The Assessing Officer thereafter passed the reassessment order on 16.12.2019, i.e., within a period of less than four weeks from the date of disposal of objections. The issue was examined in the light of the ratio in Asian Paints Ltd. and the subsequent decision of the Jurisdictional High Court in Bharat Jayantilal Patel, and relied upon the Tribunal's decision in Pramod Manikchand Dugad. Those authorities establish that where the Assessing Officer does not accept the objections to reopening, he shall not proceed further in the matter within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt or service of the order disposing of objections; failure to observe this period renders the reassessment proceedings invalid. Applying these precedents to the facts, the reassessment was concluded in less than four weeks from disposal of the objections and therefore did not comply with the judicial mandate.

Conclusion: The reassessment proceedings under section 143(3) r.w.s. 147 read with section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 are quashed for failure to observe the four week period after disposal of objections; decision in favour of the assessee.

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