TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (5) TMI 386
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... as under : "1. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the learned Assessing Officer erred in passing an order which is invalid in law since it was an unsigned order." 3. Shri P. J. Pardiwala, Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of the assessee submitted that the assessment order dated February 3, 2021 served on the assessee is an unsigned order, hence, invalid. The impugned assessment order was received by the assessee on February 19, 2021 at 12.14 a.m. through e-mail from e-mail [email protected]. The assessment order was attached to the e-mail along with computation sheet and demand notice. Referring to e-mail, he pointed that a note was given in the e-mail that, "signed copy may be sent separately if not already digitally signed". Except from the assessment order received through aforesaid e-mail, no other assessment order for the impugned assessment year was ever communicated to the assessee. The above said order received through e-mail was an unsigned order. The learned counsel for the assessee referred to Notification No. 2 of 2016, dated February 3, 2016 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to contend that the ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... Board from time-to- time has emphasised on signing of the order, notice or any other communication issued by the Assessing Officer or any other Income-tax authority. Thus, the impugned unsigned assessment order communicated to the assessee is invalid and cannot be considered as an order in the eyes of law. 3.4. The learned counsel for the assessee in support of his submissions referred to the decision of the Tribunal in the case of Vijay Corporation v. ITO [2012] 18 taxmann.com 88 (Mum), where the assessment order without signature of the Assessing Officer was held to be invalid. He further placed reliance on the decision of the hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Smt. Kilasho Devi Burman v. CIT [1996] 219 ITR 214 (SC), wherein the assessment order on the record had no signatures of the Assessing Officer, the hon'ble apex court held that the assessment order to be valid has to be signed by the Assessing Officer. He further placed reliance on the decision by Bangalore Bench of the Tribunal in I. T. A. No. 1175/Bang/2016 titled Yeshoda Electricals v. Asst. CIT decided on February 3, 2021, wherein unsigned notice issued under section 148 of the Act was held to be....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... "292BB. Notice deemed to be valid in certain circumstances.- Where an assessee has appeared in any proceeding or co-operated in any inquiry relating to an assessment or reassessment, it shall be deemed that any notice under any provision of this Act, which is required to be served upon him, has been duly served upon him in time in accordance with the provisions of this Act and such assessee shall be precluded from taking any objection in any proceeding or inquiry under this Act that the notice was- (a) not served upon him ; or (b) not served upon him in time ; or (c) served upon him in an improper manner : Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply where the assessee has raised such objection before the completion of such assessment or reassessment." * The assessee had not initially objected that the order was not digitally signed and this ground was taken only as an additional ground. * Decision of Guwahati Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal in the case of Haroocharai Tea Co. v. ITO [1990] 35 ITD 590 (Gauhati) is in favour of the Revenue on this account. 5.1. The learned Departmental represen....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....f the Assessing Officer. 7. The assessment order was served on the assessee through designated e-mail ID of the Assessing Officer. Though the order was generated on February 3, 2021, but the same was communicated to the assessee through e-mail as attachment on February 19, 2021, i. e., almost after two weeks from the date of generation of the order. 8. The first notification that has been referred before us is dated February 3, 2016. Ostensibly, this notification was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes when the Department was in the process of migration from manual mode to e-assessment procedure. To mitigate immediate problem of the Assessing Officers to digitally sign the assessment order before uploading on Income-tax business application portal, the Assessing Officer were allowed to sign the notice under section 143(2)/143(1) and the assessment order manually and thereafter upload PDF format of the same before the order is served on to the assessee through e-mail in accordance with section 282 of the Act. The relevant extract of the said notification where the requirement to sign assessment order by the Assessing Officer and thereafter serving of the same to the as....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
...., if any. In case of refund, a separate process is initiated through CPC-ITR for adjustment of demand, if any. The stage of order generation under the "e- assessment" procedure has been explained in the said instructions, the same is reproduced herein below : "(E) Order generation : (i) The Assessing Officer needs to go back to enter assessment order tab for the final step of generation of assessment order. The Assessing Officers are advised to verify/compare the assessment of income in the draft text order with the assessed income as computed thoroughly to ensure that all items are correctly reflected as per the draft order including the draft computation sheet, before clicking generate button. Once the verification is done, the Assessing Officer can then select the various documents to be generated with the assessment order, viz., demand notice ; computation sheet ; penalty notice, if any. Option to select such documents is available on the order screen. The Assessing Officer can also select the option to digitally sign the order and related documents. (ii) Once the aforesaid steps are executed, the Assessing Officer can proceed to generate the complete....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....public domain is an unsigned order. 13. The learned Departmental representative has contended that the addition made in the draft assessment order and the final assessment order are the same, the draft assessment order has been duly signed by the Assessing Officer, the additions made in the draft assessment order have been upheld by the Dispute Resolution Panel, therefore, no prejudice is caused to the assessee. The Revenue is shielding unsigned assessment order citing provisions of section 292B of the Act and has contended that service of unsigned order to the assessee is merely a procedural defect that can be rectified. We do not concur with the said proposition advanced on behalf of the Department. 14. Signing of an assessment order by the Assessing Officer is a mandatory requirement and not merely a procedural formality. Unless, the order is signed it cannot be said to be complete. Once the order is signed digitally or manually, as required, the order is complete and the date of signature on the order shall be the date of passing of the order. Here we would also like to refer to the relevant provisions from the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) explaining the requiremen....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e aforesaid section is with respect to authentication of notices and other documents, i. e., orders/summons/requisitions/communications, etc. Sub-section (1) makes it obligatory that where any notice or other document is required to be issued under the provisions of the Act, the same shall be signed and issued by the competent authority in accordance with the procedure prescribed. The section is unambiguous, specifies signing of notice or other documents mandatory and the manner of signing procedural. Therefore, the Board has issued instructions from time-to-time laying down the procedures, inter alia, for signing of the notices and the assessment orders. Sub-section (2) of section 282A of the Act explains the connotation of expression "authentication". Thus, signing of document and authentication of document carry different meaning. Signing of document denotes committing to the document, whereas, authentication of document relates to genuineness of origin of document. If signing and authentication would mean the same, then there was no need for the Legislature to lay down the requirement of signing the documents, viz., notices, orders, etc., in sub-section (1) and explain the purp....