2024 (3) TMI 886

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....r, the assessee under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 had not filed any return of income for the assessment year 2019-2020. The information in possession of the assessing officer and those collected from the cooperative department during the course of proceedings and petitioner's reply to the enquiry notice under Section 148A(a) of the IT Act and show cause notice under Section 148A(b) of the IT Act would suggest that income chargeable to tax attributable to the banking transactions of the assessee for the financial year 2018-2019, relevant to the assessment year 2019-2020 had escaped assessment. Therefore, the assessment officer recorded satisfaction that it was a fit case for issue of notice under Section 148 of the IT Act. 2.....

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....omized allocation of cases, by using suitable technological tools, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, with a view to optimize the use of resources. " 5. Section 3 of the said scheme provides as "for the purpose of this Scheme-assessment, reassessment or re-computation under section 147 of the Act, issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Act, shall be through automated allocation, in accordance with the risk management strategy formulated by the Board as referred to in section 148 of the Act for issuance of notice and in a faceless manner, to the extent provided in section 144B of the Act with reference to making assessment or reassessment of total income or loss of assessee. 6. On the basis of the aforesaid provis....

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.... 10. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that under Section 148A of the IT Act, the proceedings have not been faceless as it mandated under the two schemes formulated by the CBIC, the impugned proceedings have not been done in the manner prescribed and therefore, the order impugned is vitiated and liable to be set aside. 11. Sri. Jose Joseph, the learned Senior Standing counsel for the Income Tax Department has submitted that the faceless assessment procedure as prescribed under Section 144B of the IT Act has been introduced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 with effect from 01.04.2021. Section 144B(1) provides that the assessment, re-assessment and re-computation under 143(3)....

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....r sub-section (3) of Section 143 or Section 144 or under Section 147 as the case may be with respect of the cases referred to in sub-section (2), shall be made in a faceless manner as per the following procedure,...." 14. Sub-section (2) provides that faceless assessment under Sub-section (1) shall be made in respect of such territorial area, or persons or class of persons or class of incomes or cases or class of cases, as may be specified by the court. 15. Thus, what is provided under sub-section (1) which has a non obstante clause is that the faceless procedure for assessment, re-assessment, re-computation and not the proceedings interior to the said assessment, re-assessment, re-computation. Further, sub-section (2) provides that the ....