Reassessment limitation under Section 149: later Section 148A proceedings cannot cure a time-barred notice under Section 148.

The amended reassessment regime under Section 149 operates prospectively, and for assessment years beginning on or before 01.04.2021 the first proviso preserves the earlier six-year bar where a notice could not have been issued within that period. The Tribunal held that the time taken between the show-cause notice under Section 148A(b) and the order under Section 148A(d) did not extend the substantive limitation for issuing a notice under Section 148. As the notice for assessment year 2015-16 was issued after expiry of six years from the end of the relevant year, it was barred by limitation and invalid, and the reassessment was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2015-16 was barred by limitation and consequently invalid.

Analysis: The assessee was issued notice under Section 148A(b) and the order under Section 148A(d) was passed thereafter, but the notice under Section 148 was issued after the expiry of six years from the end of the relevant assessment year. The amended reassessment regime under Section 149 was held to operate prospectively, and for assessment years beginning on or before 01.04.2021, the first proviso to Section 149(1) preserves the bar under the unamended six-year limitation where a notice could not have been issued earlier. The Tribunal followed binding jurisdictional precedent and held that the period between the show-cause notice and the order under Section 148A(d) could not extend the substantive limitation so as to validate an otherwise time-barred notice.

Conclusion: The notice under Section 148 was held to be barred by limitation and invalid, and the reassessment was quashed.

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