TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 375
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....s been issued without the petitioner being provided with the Document Identification Number ("DIN") and for such reason, it would be hit by Circular No.19/2019 dated 14 August 2019 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes ("CBDT"). It is contended that the impugned assessment order would be required to be held to be invalid and illegal considering paragraph 1 read with paragraph 4 of the said circular in as much as, according to the petitioner, the circular has specifically pointed out instances in which the notice, order, summons, letter and any correspondence which is collectively referred as 'communication' would be held to be invalid in terms of what has been stated in paragraph 4 of the circular. For convenience, the contents of the....
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....tutory or otherwise, exemptions, enquiry, investigation, verification of information, penalty, prosecution, rectification, approval etc. to the assessee or any other person, on or after the 1st day of October, 2019 unless a computer-generated Document Identification Number (DIN) has been allotted and is duly quoted in the body of such communication. 3. In exceptional circumstances such as, - (i) when there are technical difficulties in generating/allotting/quoting the DIN and issuance of communication electronically; or (ii) when communication regarding enquiry, verification etc. is required to be issued by an income-tax authority, who is outside the office, for discharging his official duties; or (iii) w....
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....ll be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. 5. The communication issued manually in the three situations specified in para 3-(i), (ii) or (iii) above shall have to be regularised within 15 working days of its issuance, by - i. uploading the manual communication on the System; ii. compulsorily generating the DIN on the System; iii. communicating the DIN so generated to the assessee/any other person as per electronically generated pro-forma available on the System. 6. An intimation of issuance of manual communication for the reasons mentioned in para 3(v) shall be sent to the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) within seven days from the date of its issuan....
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....ment order dated 28 September 2021 would be invalid on account of it being issued without a DIN. The Court, considering the purport of the circular dated 14 August 2019 (supra) and more particularly paragraph 4 thereof, held that the assessment order would be required to be held to be invalid, as the same was issued without a DIN. From the decision it appears that the CBDT who had issued the circular in question which had fell for consideration and called for interpretation, was not a party to the proceedings. Hence there was no occasion for the Court to consider the stand of the CBDT and it is only Assistant Commissioner of Income Taxation who was the only respondent. Prima-facie one of us (G.S. Kulkarni, J.) is of the opinion that the pla....