Electronic reassessment notice authentication requires a valid signature; an unsigned notice cannot confer jurisdiction or sustain reassessment proceedings.

An electronically issued notice for reassessment must be authenticated by signature. Section 282A makes signing mandatory, and electronic authentication requires a digital signature; an unsigned notice is not a curable procedural irregularity. Where a notice under section 148 bears neither manual nor digital signature, it lacks legal validity and cannot confer reassessment jurisdiction. Sections 292B and 292BB do not cure this jurisdictional defect. Consequently, reassessment proceedings founded on such an unsigned notice, including the reassessment order, are invalid.

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Issues: Whether an unsigned notice issued electronically under section 148 was validly authenticated and could confer jurisdiction for reassessment.

Analysis: Section 282A requires a notice issued by an income-tax authority to be signed; for electronic communication, authentication requires a digital signature. The statutory use of "shall" makes signature mandatory, not a procedural formality. The notice under section 148 bore neither a manual nor a digital signature. Such failure deprived the notice of legal validity and constituted a jurisdictional defect that could not be cured under sections 292B or 292BB.

Conclusion: The unsigned notice under section 148 was invalid; consequently, the reassessment proceedings and reassessment order were quashed.

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