TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (3) TMI 784
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....he Act, 1961. For this purpose, a notice under Section 148 of the Act, 1961 for the Assessment Year 2013-14 was digitally signed by the Assessing Authority on 31.3.2021. It was sent to the assesses through e-mail and e-mail was undisputedly received by the petitioner on his registered e-mail I .D. on 06.04.2021. The limitation for issuing notice under Section 148 read with Section 149 of the Act, 1961 was upto 31.03.2021 for the Assessment Year 2013-14. 4. Under the circumstances, the petitioner filed objections before the Assessing Authority. One of the objections raised by the petitioner was that the notice is time barred and thus without jurisdiction as it was issued on 06.04.2021 whereas the limitation for issuing notice under Section 148 read with Section 149 of the Act 1961 expired on 31.03.2021. The objection filed by the petitioner was rejected by the Assessing Authority holding that since the notice was digitally signed on 31.03.2021, therefore, it shall be deemed to have been issued within time i.e. on 31.03.2021. 5. Aggrieved, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition, praying for the following reliefs:- "(a) Issue a writ, order or direction in th....
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.... Successors to Office (2011) 12 taxmann.com 198 (Guj.) ( paras 15, 15.1 & 16) and the judgment of this court dated 28.08.2017 in Writ Tax No. 822 of 2016 (Smt. Kusum Agarwal Vs. Asst. Commissioner Of Income Tax, Agra And Another). 11. Sri Gaurav Mahajan, learned counsel for the Income Tax Department submits that issue of notice means, the date on which the notice is digitally signed by the Assessing Authority. Since the impugned notice under Section 148 of the Act, 1961 has been signed by the Assessing Authority on 31.03.2021 i.e. well within the period of limitation, therefore, the impugned notice is wholly valid and the writ petition is not maintainable. 12.In support of his submissions Sri Gaurav Mahajan, has relied upon a judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of R.K. Upadhyaya v. Shanabhai P. Patel (1987) 166 ITR 163. 13.Both the learned counsels for the parties have jointly stated that the limitation for issuing reassessment notice under Section 148 of the Act 1961 for the Assessment Year 2013-14 would have expired on 31.3.2020 but the limitation was extended by the Taxation and other laws amendment Act 2020 whereby the limitation stood extended upto 31.3.2021....
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....il, 2012." Section 282 282. (1) The service of a notice or summon or requisition or order or any other communication under this Act (hereafter in this section referred to as "communication") may be made by delivering or transmitting a copy thereof, to the person therein named,- (c) in the form of any electronic record as provided in Chapter IV of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); or 282A (1) Where this Act requires a notice or other document to be issued by any income-tax authority, such notice or other document shall be signed and issued in paper from or communicated in electronic form by that authority in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed. (2) Every notice or other document to be issued, served or given for the purposes of this Act by any income-tax authority, shall be deemed to be authenticated if the name and office of a designated income-tax authority is printed, stamped or otherwise written thereon. (3) For the purposes of this section, a designated income-tax authority shall mean any income-tax authority authorised by the Board to issue, serve or give such notice or other docume....
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.... by a subscriber by means of an electronic method or procedure in accordance with the provisions of section 3; 2(t) "electronic record" means data, record or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 2(za) "originator" means a person who sends, generates, stores or transmits any electronic message or causes any electronic message to be sent, generated, stored or transmitted to any other person but does not include an intermediary; Section 13 Section 13 in The Information Technology Act, 2000 13. Time and place of despatch and receipt of electronic record.- (1) Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, the despatch of an electronic record occurs when it enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator. (2) Save as otherwise agreed between the originator and the addressee, the time of receipt of an electronic record shall be determined as follows, namely:- (a) if the addressee has designated a computer resource for the purpose of receiving electronic records,- (i) receipt occur....
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....ther document communicated in electronic form by an authority under the Act shall be deemed to be authenticated in case of electronic mail or electronic mail message (e-mail) if the name and office of such income tax authority is printed on the e-mail body, if the notice or other document is in the e- mail body itself, or is printed on the attachment to the e-mail, if the notice or other document is in the attachment and the e-mail, is issued from the designated e-mail address of such income tax authority. Thus, the issuance of notice and other document would take place when the email is issued from the designated e-mail address of the concerned income tax authority. 18. Since Section 149 of the Act 1961 requires notice to be issued by Income Tax Authority, therefore, in terms of sub Section (1) of Section 282 A it has to be signed by that authority and to be issued in paper form or communicated in electronic form by that authority in accordance with procedure prescribed. 19. The communication in electronic form has been prescribed in Rule 127 A of the Rules 1962 which provides a procedure for issuance of every notice or other document and the e-mail in electronic form/electr....
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....lation|| v.t. to publish or give out || to put into circulation, to issue a new coinage [O.F. issue, eissuel" 24. In Black's Law Dictionary 9th edition the meaning of the word "issue" has been given as under :- "issue, vb. (14c) 1. To accrue <rents issuing from land> 2. To be put forth officially <without probable cause, the search warrant will not issue> 3. To send out or distribute officially <issue process> <issue stock> . - issuance, n." 25. In the case of Kanubhai M. Patel (HUF) v. Hiren Bhatt or His Successors to Office (2011) 334 ITR 25 Gujarat High Court has considered similar issue in the context of Section 149 of the Act 1961 and held, as under :- "15. The expression "issue" has been defined in Black's Law Dictionary to mean "To send forth; to emit; to promulgate; as, an officer issues orders, process issues from court. To put into circulation; as, the treasury issues notes. To send out, to send out officially; to deliver, for use, or authoritatively; to go forth as authoritative or binding. When used with reference to writs, process, and the like, the term is ordinarily construed as importing delivery to the proper person, or to the proper officer....
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....s would be 07.04.2010 and not 31.03.2010, as contended on behalf of the revenue. In the circumstances, impugned the notices under section 148 in relation to assessment year 2003-04, having been issued on 07.04.2010 which is clearly beyond the period of six years from the end of the relevant assessment year, are clearly barred by limitation and as such, cannot be sustained." 26. In writ Tax No.822 of 2016 Smt. Kusum Agarwal Vs. Asst. Commissioner Of Income Tax, Agra And Another, decided on 28.08.2017 the Division Bench of this Court has held/observed as under: "Sri R.R. Agarwal has cited Kanubhai M. Patel (HUF) v. Hiren Bhatt or His Successors to Office (2011) 12 taxmann.com 198 (Guj.). In this case also, the dispute was with regard to the issuance of notice u/s 148 of the Act and the limitation provided u/s 149 of the Act. The Division Bench of the Court held that merely signing of notice on a particular date cannot be equated with the date of issuance of the notice as contemplated u/s 149 of the Act. The notice therein was signed on the last date of limitation, i.e. 31.03.2010 and was actually handed over to the post office for the purposes of effecting service upon th....
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....; .... to give or send out authoritatively or officially; to send forth or deal out formally or publicly-, to emit, put into circulation'. The issue of a charge-sheet, therefore, means its despatch to the government servant, and this act is complete the moment steps are taken for the purpose, by framing the charge-sheet and despatching it to the government servant, the further fact of its actual service on the government servant not being a necessary part of its requirement. This is the sense in which the word 'issue' was used in the expression 'charge-sheet has already been issued to the employee', in para 17 of the decision in Jankiraman." 28. In the case of State of Andhra Pradesh and others Vs. CH. Gandhi (2013) 5SCC 111(para 19) Hon'ble Supreme Court explained the meaning of word "issue" in the context of a service matter and reiterated its earlier judgment in the case of H.C. Khurana (supra) observing as under :- "19. Be it noted, in the said case, the decision rendered in Union of India and others v. K.V. Jankiraman and others [(1991) 4 SCC 109] was explained by stating thus: - "13. ... 'The word 'issued' used in this context in J....