TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2007 (12) TMI 178
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....s been enclosed as annexure III to this writ petition. 3. The petitioner is challenging a notice issued to him under section 148 of the Act, a copy of which has been enclosed as annexure VI to this writ petition. 4. The main ground of challenge is that the notice under section 148 dated January 10, 2007, and has been issued by the Income-tax Officer. According to the petitioner, this notice has been issued after the expiry of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year and, therefore, the said notice could not have been issued by the Income-tax Officer. It could have been issued by an Assessing Officer not below the rank of the Joint Com-missioner. 5. In support of the above proposition, reliance has been placed upon a decisi....
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....ent order has been made under sub-section (3) of section 143 or section 147 of the Act, the notice is to be issued only after the satisfaction has been recorded by either the Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner on the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer that it is a fit case for issue of such notice. Thus, the Assessing Officer not below the rank of the Assistant Commissioner can issue a notice but before issuing the notice, the satisfaction of the Commissioner or the Chief Commissioner of Income-tax is necessarily to be obtained. This would be the position after April 1, 1988, in view of the omission of the words 'Additional Commissioner' in section 2(16) of the Act by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987 ; and (iii) ....
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....ase falling under sub-section (1), no notice shall be issued under section 148 by an Assessing Officer, who is below the rank of Joint Commissioner, after the expiry of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year, unless the Joint Commissioner is satisfied, on the reasons recorded by such Assessing Officer, that it is a fit case for the issue of such notice." (emphasis ours) 7. It is obvious that sub-section (2) of section 151, which was actually not in issue in the said decision before the Division Bench inasmuch as the Division Bench was examining a case clearly covered by section 151(1), the obiter observation in the underlined portion of the judgment extracted above was made apparently because of the confusion created by t....