2026 (3) TMI 670

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....tanding the original grounds of appeal, the reassessment proceedings initiated under section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 are bad in law and void ab initio, as the notice under section 148 was issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) instead of the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC), which is in violation of the mandatory procedure prescribed under Section 144B and Section 151A of the Act, vide notification No. CBDT Notification No. 18/2022/F. No. 370142/16/2022-TPL Part1 dated 29/03/2022 and as clarified by the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court in the case of Jatinder Singh Bhangu Singh Vs. Union of India (W.P. No. 15745 of 2024 dt. 19/07/2024." 3. It was submitted that all the facts are borne out from the order....

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....nce, Government of India dt. 29/03/2022 under Section 144B of the Act. It was submitted that after issuance of the said notification on 29/03/2022, the notice under section 148 ought to have been issued by the Faceless Assessment Unit and not by the Jurisdictional AO. It was accordingly submitted that the notice so issued under section 148 has clearly been issued without jurisdiction. In this regard, our reference was drawn to the decision of Coordinate Bench in case of DCIT Vs Shri Aman Batra (in ITA No. 1040/Chd/2024 and C.O. No. 41/Chd/2024 dt. 13/05/2025) wherein the Coordinate Bench following the decision of Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that the notice issued under section 148 is bad in the eyes of law. In this regard, ....

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....24. 3. Learned counsel for the respondents does not dispute the fact that the case of the petitioner is covered in his favour by the law laid down through the aforesaid two judgments rendered by two different coordinate Benches of this Court in Jatinder Singh Bhangu and Jasjit Singh's case (supra). 4. In the light of the above, in terms of the law laid down in Jatinder Singh Bhangu's and Jasjit Singh's cases (supra) the impugned notice dated 01.03.2025 (Annexure P-1) issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer, is hereby quashed with liberty to the respondents to proceed against the petitioner in accordance with law. 5. The petition is allowed in the above terms." 7. Respectfully following the ....

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..... 10. I have heard the rival contentions and perused the material available on the record. In the instant case, it is noted that the notice under section 148 has been issued on 30/03/2023 by ITO Ward, Nabha who is the Jurisdictional AO and not by the Faceless Assessment Unit. The said notice has been issued almost after an year from the issuance of notification by Ministry of Finance, Government of India on 29/03/2022 requiring issuance of notice and conduct of assessment proceedings by the Faceless Assessment Unit. There is thus a clear breach of the binding notification so issued u/s 144B requiring issuance of notices and conduct of proceedings through the Faceless Assessment Unit. The Coordinate Bench in case of Aman Batra (supra) and....