Service of Notice u/s 143(2)

[Suresh Rumale]

Whether on the following fact notice u/s.143(2) is validly issued,for A.Y.2007-08 (a) Appellant has e-filed the return of income on : 31-12-2007 For the Assessment Year :2007-08 (b) The learned A.O. issued the notice U/s. .143(2) : 16-10-2008 (c) The notice u/s..143(2) dt.16-10-2008 served : 20-10-2008 upon the Appellant company. (d) Financial year in which return filed : 2007- 2008 End of financial year is --------------- : 31-03-2008 (e) Specified time limit for issue of notice is Six : 30-09-2008 months for the end of financial year in which : return is filed thus, expires on : (f) Appellant filed first objection letter : 31-10-2008 (g) Appellant filed second objection letter : 12-11-2009 (h) Appellant filed third objection letter : 13-11-2009 Please enlightan considering amendment made wef 1/04/2008.

[B L Bhojwani]

As per the proviso to section 143(2)(ii), substituted by the Finance Act, 2008, w.e.f. 01.04.2008, no notice under clause (ii) shall be served on the assessee after the expiry of six months from the end of the financial year in which the return is furnished. Therefore, in the given case, the notice having been served after 30.09.2008 is time-barred.

There is  a plethora of cases in which it has been held that assessment completed in pursuance of a time-barred notice is null and void. E.g., Bholanath R. Shukla v. ITO (2009) 118 ITD 552 (Mum-Trib), Cebon India Ltd. v. Addl. CIT (2008) 12 DTR  (Del) 402.

Post section 292BB, effective from 01.04.2008, it is mandatory for the assessee or his representative to file the objection immediately before the beginning of the proceedings, which has been done in this case.

AI Summary

Time-barred assessment notices breach the statutory time limit, rendering proceedings void while early objections preserve procedural rights. A notice issued and served after the prescribed statutory time limit following the end of the financial year in which the return was filed is time-barred; assessments completed pursuant to such a notice are void. Under the amended procedure, the assessee must raise objections immediately before commencement of proceedings, and filing such objections complies with the procedural requirement to oppose time barred proceedings.