Reassessment limitation under section 149 barred revival of a time-barred notice, making the consequent reassessment invalid.

A reassessment notice for AY 2015-16 was time-barred because the six-year limitation under the unamended section 149 expired on 31.03.2022, while the notice was issued on 23.04.2022. The extended ten-year period under the amended regime could not be used to revive the notice, as the first proviso to section 149 prevents reopening where the notice was already barred under the earlier law. The notice under section 148 was therefore invalid, and the consequential reassessment could not survive and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for assessment year 2015-16 was barred by limitation in view of section 149 and its first proviso, and whether the consequent reassessment could survive.

Analysis: The relevant assessment year was 2015-16. Under the unamended regime, notice under section 148 could be issued within six years from the end of the assessment year, which expired on 31.03.2022. The notice in the present case was issued on 23.04.2022. The extended ten-year period under the amended provisions could not be invoked because the first proviso to section 149 bars reopening under the new regime where the notice was already time-barred under the earlier law. As the notice itself was invalid, the reassessment framed in consequence could not stand.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was held to be time-barred and invalid, and the consequential reassessment was quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the limitation for issuance of a reassessment notice had already expired under the unamended law, the first proviso to section 149 prevents reliance on the extended limitation under the amended regime to revive a time-barred notice.

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