TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (8) TMI 676
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....r [NFAC], Delhi, for the assessment year 2015-16 The reference to the word "Act" in this order hereinafter shall mean the Income Tax Act, 1961 as amended from time to time. 2.0 At the outset, the Ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that both the Ld.AO and the Ld.CIT(A) have passed ex-parte orders in its case. It was stated that order u/s. 147 r.w.s. 144 dated 16.03.2023 was passed by the Ld.AO whereby an addition of Rs. 1,06,44,200/- was made in its case, inter-alia, invoking prescription of section 69A of the Act. The Ld. Counsel argued that it is assailing the order of Ld.CIT(A) both on legal grounds as well as on the merits of the case. As the legal ground of the appellant assessee strikes at the very root of the reassessment order....
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....upon the order of lower authorities. It was argued that the decision of Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the case of Hexaware Technologies Limited which is the basis of impugned decision of the Hon'ble Madras High Court dated 24.06.2025 (supra) has been contested by the Revenue before the Hon'ble Apex Court and hence no reliance can be placed. 5.0 We have heard rival submissions in the light of material available on records. It is an admitted fact on records that the notice u/s. 148 dated 30.03.2022, upon which the assessment order u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 dated 16.03.2023 is resting, was issued by the jurisdictional assessing officer and not the faceless assessing officer. We have noted the following provisions of section 151A of the Act:- ....
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....f Parliament.]...." The legal prescription thus mandated is that post issuance of notification by the central government, notices u/s. 148 shall be issued by faceless assessing officers. 6.0 We have noted that the Central Board of Direct Taxes has passed a notification dated 29.03.2022 stipulating as under:- "....NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 29th March, 2022 S.O. 1466(E).-In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 151A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby makes the following Scheme, namely:- 1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Scheme may be called the e-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2022. (2) It shall come into f....
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....me. It thus alludes that notice u/s 148 shall be issued by a faceless assessing officer. 7.0 We have also noted the decision of Hon'ble Bombay High court in the case of Hexaware Technologies Limited dated 03.05.2024 in WP No.1778 of 2023. The Hon'ble court's decision was, inter alia, based on the newly introduced faceless assessment scheme, established under Section 151A of the Act which mandated that reassessment notices be issued through automated allocation and in a faceless manner, thereby eliminating direct interaction between the taxpayer and the tax authorities. The court interpreted this to mean that the authority to issue reassessment notices under the faceless assessment scheme rests solely with the FAO, not the JAO. The Ho....
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.... Tax1; and opined that it was mandatory for the FAO to issue notice and issuance of notice by JAO would make the notice invalid. 3. Learned Single Judge thereafter directed the matter to be placed before the Chief Justice for constituting a Division Bench to consider the divergent views. It is, therefore, all these matters were listed before us today. 4. We follow the law as laid down in Hexaware Technologies Ltd (supra), the said judgment was authored by one of us (Chief Justice), that it is mandatory for the FAO to issue the concerned notices and issuance thereof by the JAO would make the notice invalid. 5. Counsels for assessees are ad idem that the law as laid down in Hexaware Technologies Ltd (supra) will app....
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....We have noted that in the present case the notice u/s 148 was issued on 30.03.2022 by the jurisdictional assessing officer and that the assessment order u/s 147 dated 16.03.2023 is resting upon the same. In respectful compliance to the decision of the Hon'ble Madras High Court (supra) it is held that notice u/s 148 issued on 30.03.2022 by the jurisdictional assessing officer is an invalid notice and same is therefore quashed. It is trite law that once foundation goes the superstructure is bound to collapse. Accordingly, in the present case the assessment order u/s 147 dated 16.03.2023 shall also not survive. We therefore set aside the order of the lower authorities. The legal grounds of appeal nos.5 & 6 raised by the assessee are therefore ....