TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2013 (1) TMI 188
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.... in declaring the reassessment of assessment invalid?" 2. Brief facts are as follows : 2.1 The respondent assessee had for the assessment year 1999-2000, filed a return of income on 29.6.1999 declaring a total income of Rs.13,30,948/-. Subsequently, revised return was filed on 12.10.1999 declaring total income of Rs.1,8,27,162/-. Such return was processed under section 143(1) of the Act. No scrutiny assessment was undertaken. Subsequently, however, the Assessing Officer issued notice under section 148 of the Act on 6.7.2004 for reopening the assessment calling upon the assessee to file return. The assessee vide his letter dated 10.7.2004 requested that return already filed earlier be treated as one filed in response to such notice. Th....
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....h decision portion of which was reproduced by the Tribunal apparently it was held that once the original assessment had become time barred without issuing notice under section 143(2) of the Act, the Assessing Officer would lose jurisdiction to make reassessment with respect to such return of income. 4. We are of the opinion that both the grounds recorded by the Tribunal are wholly unsustainable. The first ground suffers from misapplication of statutory provisions. It is an admitted position that original assessment was accepted under section 143(1) of the Act without any scrutiny. That being the position, the requirement of proviso to section 147 that in order to reopen the assessment beyond period of four years from the end of relevant ....
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....tted that time-limit provided in the proviso to section 143(2) of the Act, must be given its due weightage. If the Assessing Officer for any reason failed to issue such a notice within the time-limit, he cannot proceed under section 147 for taking such a return in scrutiny." Such contention was rejected in the following manner : "10. This brings us to the second limb of the petitioner's challenge namely, that the power under section 147 of the Act cannot be exercised to circumvent the proceedings under section 143(3) of the Act because the notice under section 143(2) of the Act has become time barred and further that in any case, reasons recorded would not permit the Assessing Officer to reopen th....
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....nder section 143(3) of the Act, whether beyond or within four years from the end of the relevant assessment year, is substantially wider. The Apex Court in case of Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax v. Rajesh Jhaveri Stock Brokers P. Ltd., (supra) noticed such distinction and noted that the scheme of sections 143(1) and 143(3) of the Act is entirely different. It was noticed that after 1.4.1989, the provisions contained in section 143 underwent substantial changes. It was noticed that the intimation under section 143(1) of the Act is given without prejudice to the provisions of section 143(3) of the Act and though technically the intimation would be deemed to be demand notice under section 156, that did not per se preclude the right of th....
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....ompared to a return of which scrutiny assessment under section 143(3) of the Act is framed, the basic requirement of section 147 of the Act that the Assessing Officer has reason to believe that income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment is not done away with. Section 147 of the Act permits the Assessing Officer to assess, re-assess the income or re-compute the loss or depreciation if he has reason to believe that any income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for any assessment year. This power to reopen assessment is available in either case, namely, while a return has been either accepted under section 143(1) of the Act or a scrutiny assessment has been framed under section 143(3) of the Act. A common requirement in both of case....