TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (10) TMI 435
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....Faceless Assessing Officer ('FAO') would have the jurisdiction to initiate re-assessment proceedings under Section 148 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 ('the Act, hereinafter). 2. The contention of Mr. Anand Chaudhuri, learned counsel for the petitioners is that the issue is no more res integra inasmuch as there have been multiple judicial pronouncements stating that it is the FAO, that shall have the requisite jurisdiction to issue notices under Section 148 of the Act. In this regard, he has referred to the following judgments of various High Courts:- a. Hexaware Technologies Ltd. v. ACIT [2024] 162 taxmann.com 225 (Bombay HC); b. Prakash Pandurang Patil v. ITO [2024:BHC-AS:32759-DB] (Bombay HC); c. Sri Venkataramana Reddy Patloola v. DCIT [W.P. Nos. 13353, 16141 & 16877 of 2024] (Telangana HC); d. Deepanjan Roy v. ADIT (International Taxation)-2 [W.P. No. 23573 of 2024] (Telangana HC); e. Jatinder Singh Bhangu v. Union of India [CWP 15745 of 2024] (Punjab & Haryana HC); f. Royal Bitumen (P.) Ltd. v. ACIT [2024] 164 taxmann.com 606 (Bombay HC); g. Everest Kanto Cylinder Ltd. v. DCIT/ACIT [2024] 165 taxmann.com 192 (Bomba....
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....ted 04.04.2025, categorically directed that the Revenue may proceed with the reassessment proceedings, but any adverse order against the petitioner therein shall not be given effect to until further orders. This direction of the Supreme Court, by necessary implication, constitutes an interim stay and any reliance on T.K.S. Builders (supra), is no longer tenable in law. To buttress this argument, he has relied upon the judgments of the Supreme Court in S.N. Mukherjee vs. Union of India, (1990) 4 SCC 594 and Kunhayammed and Others vs. State of Kerala and Another, (2000) 6 SCC 359. 7. Per contra, Mr. Siddhartha Sinha, learned Senior Standing Counsel for the respondents submits that the contention of Mr. Chaudhuri are unmerited inasmuch as this Court has followed a consistent position that insofar as the jurisdiction of Delhi is concerned, both JAO and FAO would have concurrent jurisdiction to initiate proceedings for re-assessment. Though the judgment in TKS Builders (Supra) has been taken in appeal before the Supreme Court, there has been no stay of the same. 8. He states that in any case, the order of the Supreme Court in Prakash Pandurang Patil (Supra) does not state reasons ....
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.... 11 SCC 455, the Supreme Court in paragraph 7 has held as under:- "7. There is no dispute to the settled proposition of law that dismissal of the special leave petition in limine by this Court does not mean that the reasoning of the judgment of the High Court against which the special leave petition has been filed before this Court stands affirmed or the judgment and order impugned merges with such order of this Court on dismissal of the petition. It simply means that this Court did not consider the case worth examining for the reason, which may be other than merit of the case. Nor such an order of this Court operates as res judicata. An order rejecting the special leave petition at the threshold without detailed reasons therefore does not constitute any declaration of law or a binding precedent." (Emphasis supplied) 14. In this regard, we may refer to the judgment of the Supreme Court in State of Orissa and Another vs. Dhirendra Sundar Das and Others, (2019) 6 SCC 270, wherein it was observed as under:- "9.27. It is a well-settled principle of law emerging from a catena of decisions of this Court, including Supreme Court Employees' Welfare Assn. V. Union of....
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....racted to such an order. Grounds entitling exercise of review jurisdiction conferred by Order 47 Rule 1 CPC or any other statutory provision or allowing review of an order passed in exercise of writ or supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court (where also the principles underlying or emerging from Order 47 Rule 1 CPC act as guidelines) are not necessarily the same on which this Court exercises discretion to grant or not to grant special leave to appeal while disposing of a petition for the purpose. Mere rejection of a special leave petition does not take away the jurisdiction of the court, tribunal or forum whose order forms the subject-matter of petition for special leave to review its own order if grounds for exercise of review jurisdiction are shown to exist. Where the order rejecting an SLP is a speaking order, that is, where reasons have been assigned by this Court for rejecting the petition for special leave and are stated in the order still the order remains the one rejecting prayer for the grant of leave to appeal. The petitioner has been turned away at the threshold without having been allowed to enter in the appellate jurisdiction of this Court. Here also the doctrine of....
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....6. Further, in Khoday Distilleries Ltd. & Others vs. Sri Mahadeshwara Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane Limited, Kollegal, (2019) 4 SCC 376, the Supreme Court held as under:- "26.2. We reiterate the conclusions relevant for these cases as under: (Kunhayammed case, SCC p. 384) "(iv) An order refusing special leave to appeal may be a non-speaking order or a speaking one. In either case it does not attract the doctrine of merger. An order refusing special leave to appeal does not stand substituted in place of the order under challenge. All that it means is that the Court was not inclined to exercise its discretion so as to allow the appeal being filed. (v) If the order refusing leave to appeal is a speaking order i.e. gives reasons for refusing the grant of leave, then the order has two implications. Firstly, the statement of law contained in the order is a declaration of law by the Supreme Court within the meaning of Article 141 of the Constitution. Secondly, other than the declaration of law, whatever is stated in the order are the findings recorded by the Supreme Court which would bind the parties thereto and also the court, tribunal or authority in any proceedin....