https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783968 The dominant issue was the validity of a faceless assessment under s. 144B where the assessee had requested a personal hearing. The ITAT held that s. 144B(6)(viii) uses mandatory language ("shall"), requiring the assessing unit to grant a personal hearing through video conferencing/video telephony upon request; failure to do so, without recording reasons, constitutes a statutory breach vitiating the assessment. The ITAT further noted that additions made on mere suspicion could not survive once the assessment suffered from this illegality. Consequently, the assessment order was set aside and the appeal was allowed. en-us Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:18:35 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783968 The dominant issue was the validity of a faceless assessment under s. 144B where the assessee had requested a personal hearing. The ITAT held that s. 144B(6)(viii) uses mandatory language ("shall"), requiring the assessing unit to grant a personal hearing through video conferencing/video telephony upon request; failure to do so, without recording reasons, constitutes a statutory breach vitiating the assessment. The ITAT further noted that additions made on mere suspicion could not survive once the assessment suffered from this illegality. Consequently, the assessment order was set aside and the appeal was allowed. Case-Laws Income Tax Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783968