TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (10) TMI 570
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....of the notice dated 07.04.2021 issued by respondent No.1 under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (briefly, 'the Act' hereinafter). 3. By the aforesaid notice, assessing officer proposed to assess/re-assess income of the petitioner for the assessment year 2013-14 on the ground that he has reasons to believe that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment. 4. Contention of the petitioner is that Section 148A of the Act has been inserted in the Act by way of recent amendment and which has come into effect from 01.04.2021. As per Section 148A of the Act, the assessing officer is required to conduct an enquiry with the approval of the specified authority with respect to the information suggesting that income chargeable to tax ha....
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....rt observed as follows: "7. Thus, the new provisions substituted by the Finance Act, 2021 being remedial and benevolent in nature and substituted with a specific aim and object to protect the rights and interest of the assessee as well as and the same being in public interest, the respective High Courts have rightly held that the benefit of new provisions shall be made available even in respect of the proceedings relating to past assessment years, provided section 148 notice has been issued on or after 1st April, 2021. We are in complete agreement with the view taken by the various High Courts in holding so." 8. However, taking the view that judgments of the High Courts would result in no re-assessment proceedings at all, Suprem....
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....the IT Act as those deemed to have been issued under section 148A of the IT Act as per the new provision section 148A and the Revenue ought to have been permitted to proceed further with the reassessment proceedings as per the substituted provisions of sections 147 to 151 of the IT Act as per the Finance Act, 2021, subject to compliance of all the procedural requirements and the defences, which may be available to the assessee under the substituted provisions of sections 147 to 151 of the IT Act and which may be available under the Finance Act, 2021 and in law. Therefore, we propose to modify the judgments and orders passed by the respective High Courts as under:- (i) The respective impugned section 148 notices issued to t....
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.... irrespective of whether they have been assailed before this Court or not." 9. Finally, the Civil Appeals were allowed in part and judgments of the various High Courts have been modified and substituted as under: "10. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the present Appeals are ALLOWED IN PART. The impugned common judgments and orders passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in W.T. No. 524/2021 and other allied tax appeals/petitions, is/are hereby modified and substituted as under:- (i) The impugned section 148 notices issued to the respective assessees which were issued under unamended section 148 of the IT Act, which were the subject matter of writ petitions before the various respective ....
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....nance Act, 2021 and in law shall continue to be available." 10. Supreme Court also clarified that its decision in Ashish Agarwal (supra) rendered on 04.05.2022 was an order passed under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and would be binding in all cases where similar notices have either been set aside by the High Courts or are pending adjudication before the High Courts. It has been held as follows: "11. The present order shall be applicable PAN INDIA and all judgments and orders passed by different High Courts on the issue and under which similar notices which were issued after 01.04.2021 issued under section 148 of the Act are set aside and shall be governed by the present order and shall stand modified to the aforesaid....