Effective service of reassessment notice is mandatory; without proof of delivery, reassessment jurisdiction fails and the order is quashed.

Effective service of notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act is a condition precedent to valid reassessment, and mere issuance of the notice by email or registered post is insufficient without proof of actual delivery. The Rajasthan HC held that, in the absence of material showing effective service or tracking proof, jurisdiction to complete reassessment was not validly assumed and the assessee was denied an opportunity to respond. The reassessment order was therefore quashed and set aside, and the matter was remanded for fresh proceedings after notice in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether reassessment proceedings and the consequential assessment order were liable to be set aside for want of effective service of notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The notice under section 148 was asserted to have been issued electronically and by registered post, but no material showing actual delivery or tracking proof was produced. The Court held that mere issuance of notice is not enough and that service of the reopening notice is a condition precedent for valid assumption of jurisdiction to reassess. In the absence of proof of effective service, the petitioner was deprived of an opportunity to place relevant material before the Assessing Officer, and the assessment stood vitiated.

Conclusion: The assessment order was quashed and set aside, and the matter was remanded to the Assessing Officer for fresh proceedings after issuing notice in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Effective service of notice under section 148 is mandatory and is a condition precedent to a valid reassessment; mere issuance without proof of service does not confer jurisdiction to complete the reassessment.

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