TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (6) TMI 83
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....yond the period of limitation as prescribed under Section 149 (1) of the Act and therefore, is liable to be set aside. FACTUAL CONTEXT 3. The petitioner is an individual and is a resident of New Delhi. The petitioner filed its return of income on 08.08.2013 for AY 2013-14 under Section 139 (1) of the Act, declaring a total income of Rs. 20,59,151/-. 4. The petitioner received a notice dated 31.03.2021 under Section 148 of the Act. The petitioner complied with the said notice and furnished its return of income on 07.04.2021, declaring the income as was declared in the original return. Thereafter, the Assessing Officer [AO] issued a notice dated 23.11.2021 under Section 143 (2) read with Section 147 of the Act. The petitioner furnished a reply to the said notice and duly participated in the said proceedings. The AO issued another notice dated 22.02.2022 under Section 142 (1) of the Act and the petitioner responded to the said notice as well. The said proceedings did not culminate in an assessment order, as the AO did not pass any such order at the material time. 5. The AO issued another notice dated 30.05.2022 under Section 148A (b) of the Act and called upon the petition....
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....Agarwal (supra), the Supreme Court had issued directions in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India. The relevant extract of the said judgment is set out below: "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, at the same time, the judgments of the several High Courts would result in no reassessment proceedings at all, even if the same are permissible under the Finance Act, 2021 and as per substituted sections 147 to 151 of the IT Act. The Revenue cannot be made remediless and the object and purpose of reassessment proceedings cannot be frustrated. It is true that due to a Bonafide mistake and ....
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....1 till date, including those which have been quashed by the High Courts; (iii) The assessing officers shall thereafter pass an order in terms of section 148A (d) after following the due procedure as required under section l 48A(b) in respect of each of the concerned assessees; (iv) All the defences which may be available to the assessee under section 149 and/or which may be available under the Finance Act, 2021 and in law and whatever rights are available to the Assessing Officer under the Finance Act, 2021 are kept open and/ or shall continue to be available and; (v) The present order shall substitute/modify respective judgments and orders passed by the respective High Courts quashing the similar notices issued under unamended section 148 of the IT Act irrespective of whether they have been assailed before this Court or not. 9. There is a broad consensus on the aforesaid aspects amongst the learned ASG appearing on behalf of the Revenue and the learned Senior Advocates/learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respective asessees. We are also of the opinion that if the aforesaid order is passed, it will strike a balance between the rights of th....
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....iry with the prior approval of specified authority is not mandatory but it is for the concerned Assessing Officers to hold any enquiry, if required; (iii) The assessing officers shall thereafter pass orders in terms of section 148A (d) in respect of each of the concerned assessees; Thereafter after following the procedure as required under section 148A may issue notice under section 148 (as substituted); (iv) All defences which may be available to the assesses including those available under section 149 of the IT Act and all rights and contentions which may be available to the concerned assessees and Revenue under the Finance Act, 2021 and in law shall continue to be available. 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 extent. The present order is passed in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India so as to avoid any further appeals by the Revenue on ....
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....ssessee's case is also covered with the decision of Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in the case of Suman Jeet Aggarwal and that the case pertains to category 'C', as the notice u/s 148 of the Act in the assessee's case for the year under consideration was digitally signed on 31.03.2021 but the notice was sent and delivered to the assessee on 01.04.2021 [ITBA delivery status through email sent time stamp 01.04.2021 at 07:30:47 AM and delivered time stamp 01.04.2021 at 07:30:48 AM]." 4. The aforesaid issues are addressed in the backdrop of the judgment of the Supreme Court rendered in Union of India & Ors vs. Ashish Aggarwal [(2023) 1 SCC 617] as well as the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in Suman Jeet Agarwal vs. Income-tax Officer & Ors. [2022 SCC OnLine Del 3141]. 5. Insofar as the notice bearing a date of 31 March 2021 and digitally signed on the same date is concerned, the Division Bench in Suman Jeet Agarwal had held that subject to verification, determinative would be the date and time of the dispatch as recorded on the ITBA portal and that the action of the respondent would be liable to be adjudged accordingly. It was further pertinently observ....
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.... on 31.03.2021. 17. Section 149 (1) of the Act proscribes issuance of notice beyond the period as stipulated in the said section. In Suman Jeet Agarwal v. Income Tax Officer and Ors.: (2022) 449 ITR 517, the Coordinate Bench of this Court had considered the question regarding as to the date of issue of a notice under Section 148 of the Act for ascertaining the period of limitation for issuance of such a notice. We consider it apposite to refer to the following extracts of the said decision: "25. Question No. (I) : Whether the jurisdictional Assessing Officer's act of generating notice in the Income Tax Business Application portal on March 31, 2021, without despatching the notice meets the test of the expression "shall be issued" in section 149 of the Act of 1961, and saves the notices from being time barred? 25.1. It has emerged as an admitted position on facts, that the e-mails attaching the impugned notices dated March 31, 2021, were despatched by the Income Tax Business Application servers on April 1, 2021, or thereafter. 25.2. Faced with the aforesaid factual position, it has been contended by the Department that since generation of impugned no....
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....ords "generation" and "issuance" distinctively. In this regard reference may be made illustratively to the following instructions : (a) The Income Tax Business Application Assessment Instruction No. 2 (F. No. System/Income Tax Business Application/Instruction/Assessment/ 16-17/177, dated August 1, 2016) issued by the Directorate of Income-tax (System) mentions that : "the Assessing Officer Staff/Assessing Officer Inspector will not be able to generate the notice but will be able to view the notices already generated by the Assessing Officer for taking a printout of the same, for issue to the assessee." (b) The Income Tax Business Application Assessment Instruction No. 3 (F No. System/Income Tax Business Application/Instruction/Assessment/ 177/16-17/), dated February 3, 2017, also illustrates the same distinction : "Details of the Authority/party from whom information is requisitioned can be entered along with date for compliance and the notice can then be generated and issued." 25.19. The counsel for the Department have also sought to argue that generation of a notice with document identification number on Income Tax Business Application....