TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 742
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....Section 148A (d) dated 30 March, 2024 and the consequent notice dated 30 March, 2024 issued under Section 148 of the Act are all issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer ("JAO") and not by a Faceless Assessing Officer ("FAO"), as is required by the provisions of Section 151A of the Act. 4. To give effect to the provisions of Section 151A, the Central Government has issued a Notification dated 29 March 2022 whereby a faceless mechanism has been introduced. Thus, necessarily in resorting to a procedure under Section 148A and the consequent notice to be issued under Section 148 of the Act, the Assessing Officer is required to adhere to the provisions of Section 151A read with the Notification. Thus, for a notice to be validly issued for reassessment under Section 148 of the Act, the Respondent-Revenue would need to be compliant with Section 151A, which has been interpreted and analysed in detail by a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Hexaware Technologies Limited Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax & 4 Ors. (2024) 464 ITR 430 ("Hexaware"). The Division Bench has clearly declared the law as follows : "35. Further, in our view, there is no question of concurrent ....
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....pplicable only for one aspect, i.e., proceedings post the issue of notice under Section 148 of the Act being assessment, reassessment or recomputation under Section 147 of the Act and inapplicable to the issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Act. The Scheme is clearly applicable for issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Act and accordingly, it is only the FAO which can issue the notice under Section 148 of the Act and not the JAO. The argument advanced by respondent would render clause 3(b) of the Scheme otiose and to be ignored or contravened, as according to respondent, even though the Scheme specifically provides for issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Act in a faceless manner, no notice is required to be issued under Section 148 of the Act in a faceless manner. In such a situation, not only clause 3(b) but also the first two lines below clause 3(b) would be otiose, as it deals with the aspect of issuance of notice under Section 148 of the Act. Respondents, being an authority subordinate to the CBDT, cannot argue that the Scheme framed by the CBDT, and which has been laid before both House of Parliament is partly otiose and inapplicable " 37. When an author....
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....scheme made under Section 151A of the Act, which, but for being under the central charge, would otherwise be covered by the decision of this Court in Hexaware. 7. Learned counsel for the petitioner has also drawn our attention to the decision of this Court in Kairos Properties Pvt. Ltd. vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax and Ors.3 ("Kairos Properties"), where the Court considered the effect of scheme as notified by the Central Government under the notification dated 29 March, 2022. The Court, considering the relevant provisions, has held that this scheme as notified in paragraph 3 of the notification would take within its ambit steps taken by the Revenue in issuing notice under section 148A(b) as also an order passed under Section 148A (d), so as to be included within the ambit of Section 151A of the Act. In this view of the matter, on both applicability of the law as laid down by this Court in Hexaware as also considering the observations of this Court in Kairos Properties, the petition would be required to be allowed. 8. In a decision rendered by us in the case of Abhin Anilkumar Shah Vs. Income Tax Officer, International Tax, Ward Circle 4(2) (1) & Ors.4 ("Abhin Anilkuma....
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....orders dated 31 March, 2021 and 6 September, 2021. It would be uncalled for as also not appropriate for the Court to read into the scheme dated 29 March, 2022, something which is not included. It cannot be said that the Central Government was not aware as to what was provided for in the orders dated 31 March, 2021 and 6 September, 2021 so as to not include the same under the scheme dated 29 March, 2022. It would thus be not correct, that the Court nonetheless reads into the scheme dated 29 March, 2022 the applicability of orders dated 31 March, 2021 and 6 September, 2021. In fact such approach would also be contrary to the mandate of Section 151A and to the scheme framed thereunder. 14. Thus, accepting Ms Goel's contention to read into the scheme as contained in the notification dated 29 March 2022, the applicability of the order dated 31 March, 2021 and 6 September, 2021 would in fact amount to not only rewriting such scheme issued by the Central Government but reading something into the provisions of section 151A which the legislature itself has not provided for. Section 151A and the Scheme notified below it stand independent under the notification dated 31 March 2022. Further,....