The High Court held that the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer...

The High Court held that the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer was not permitted to issue a notice u/s 148 of the Income Tax Act, as it would amount to a breach of the provisions of Section 151A, which mandates a faceless assessment regime. Relying on the recent decisions in Nainraj Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and Hexaware Technology Ltd., the Court ruled that the Revenue had not complied with the Scheme notified by the Central Government pursuant to Section 151A(2) of the Act. Consequently, the manner in which the reassessment proceedings were initiated was vitiated. The sanction granted by the authority was rendered invalid since it was not issued by the authorities specified in Section 151(ii) for reassessment proceedings. The Court decided in favor of the assessee, holding that the proceedings initiated u/s 148 would not be sustainable in light of the Hexaware judgment.