Reassessment notices under the post-Ashish Agarwal transitional regime were time-barred after expiry of the surviving limitation period.

The Tribunal examined whether reassessment notices issued under section 148, after the Ashish Agarwal transitional regime, were barred by limitation. It held that although the original notices were issued within the TOLA period, the fresh notices issued after section 148A(b) proceedings were beyond the last permissible dates under the surviving time principle applied in Ashish Agarwal and Rajeev Bansal, as followed by the jurisdictional High Court. On the admitted dates, the notices for the relevant assessment years were issued after expiry of the limitation period under section 149 and the applicable transitional directions. The notices were therefore time-barred, jurisdiction to reopen failed, and the reassessment orders were liable to be quashed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the reassessment notices issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, pursuant to the post-Ashish Agarwal regime, were barred by limitation because they were issued beyond the surviving time available under the applicable transitional framework.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that the original section 148 notices had been issued within the TOLA period, but the fresh notices, after supply of information under section 148A(b) and consideration of replies, were issued on dates later than the last permissible dates worked out on the basis of the surviving time principle explained by the Supreme Court in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal and Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal, as followed by the jurisdictional High Court. On the admitted dates, the notices for the relevant assessment years were issued after the expiry of the limitation period computed under section 149 and the transitional directions governing such reassessments.

Conclusion: The reassessment notices were time-barred and invalid, the assumption of jurisdiction to reopen failed, and the reassessment orders were liable to be quashed.

---