2026 (4) TMI 655

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....her legal heirs of the petitioner's deceased husband. It appears that the petitioner and her two children had declared the value of the property as only Rs. 84,00,000/- in the Sale Deed dated 16.06.2016 which was registered before the SRO at Kundrathur. 4. Since the petitioner had failed to file the Return of Income earlier for the Assessment Year 2017-2018, Section 148 Notice dated 29.04.2021 was issued under the old regime under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as in force with effect till 31.03.2021. 5. Meanwhile, the Hon'ble Supreme Court delivered its verdict in Union of India Vs. Ashish Agarwal., (2024) SCC Online SC 2693 on 04.05.2022, which was later clarified by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Union of India Vs. Rajeev Bansal, 2024 SCC Online SC 2993. 6. In Paragraph No. 28 from Ashish Agarwal case (cited supra), the Hon'ble Supreme Court held as under:- "28. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the present Appeals are allowed in part. The impugned common judgments and orders passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in W.T. No. 524/2021 and other allied tax appeals/petitions, is/are hereby modified and substituted as un....

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....8 Notice dated 31.07.2022, the Petitioner filed the Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2017-2018 on 01.09.2022 declaring a capital gain of Rs. 29,30,647/- from the sale of the aforesaid immovable property said to have taken place on 16.06.2016 viz., in the Financial Year 2016-2017. 9. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that without considering the petitioner's reply, the impugned Assessment Order dated 12.05.2023 has been passed and therefore submits that the impugned Assessment Order dated 12.05.2023 is liable to be set aside on this ground. 10. That apart, it is further submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the re-assessment proceedings initiated by issuance of Section 148A(b) dated 30.05.2022 which ultimately culminated in the order dated 30.07.2022 passed under Section 148A(d) and the consequential Section 148 Notice dated 31.07.2022 was beyond the statutory period of limitation. 11. On a specific query, as to how the impugned assessment order can be said to be time barred under Section 153 of the Act under the new regime as in force with effect from 01.04.2021, the learned counsel for the petitioner had endeavoured to ju....

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....ion 148A of the IT Act as substituted by the Finance Act, 2021 and construed or treated to be showcause notices in terms of section 148A(b). The assessing officer shall, within thirty days from today provide to the respective assessee's information and material relied upon by the Revenue, so that the assessee's can reply to the showcause notices within two weeks thereafter; (ii) The requirement of conducting any enquiry, if required, with the prior approval of specified authority under section 148A(a) is hereby dispensed with as a onetime measure vis-à-vis those notices which have been issued under section 148 of the unamended Act from 01.04.2021 till date, including those which have been quashed by the High Courts. Even otherwise as observed hereinabove holding any enquiry 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 assessee's; Thereafter after following the procedure as required under section 148A may issue notice under section 148 (as ....

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....ction 148 of the new regime will end on August 18, 2022. 114. In view of the above discussion, we conclude that: 1. After April 1, 2021, the Income Tax Act has to be read along with the substituted provisions; 2. Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 will continue to apply to the Income-tax Act after April 1, 2021 if any action or proceeding specified under the substituted provisions of the Income Tax Act falls for completion between March 20, 2020 and March 31, 2021; 3. Section 3(1) of the Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 overrides section 149 of the Income-tax Act only to the extent of relaxing the time limit for issuance of a reassessment notice under section 148; 4. Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 will extend the time limit for the grant of sanction by the authority specified under section 151. The test to determine whether Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 will apply to section 151 of the new regime is this : if the time limit of three years....

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....t year if the income chargeable to tax which escaped assessment was more than rupees one lakh. In comparison, the new regime increases the time limit to ten years if the escaped assessment amounts to more than rupees fifty lakhs. This change could be summarized thus: Regime Time limit Income chargeable to tax which has escaped assessment Old regime Four years but not more than six years Rupees one lakh or more New regime Three years but not more than ten years Rupees fifty lakhs or more 22. With effect from 01.04.2021, a new regime for issuance of Notices under Section 148 of the Act has been prescribed in Section 149 of the Act. As per the first proviso to Section 149(1) of the Act as in force with effect from 01.04.2021, a Section 148 Notice under the new regime cannot be issued if such a Section 148 Notice could not have been issued under the old regime as in force till 31.03.2021. 23. In other words, the only condition for issuance of a Section 148 Notice under the new regime is that the limitation under Section 148, Section 153A or Section 153 under the old regime as in force till 31.03.2021 had already not expired. This is as per the first pro....

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....t, which has escaped assessment amounts to or is likely to amount to fifty lakh rupees or more for that year: Provided that no notice under section 148 shall be issued at any time in a case for the relevant assessment year beginning on or before 1st day of April, 2021, if such notice could not have been issued at that time on account of being beyond the time limit specified under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of this section, as they stood immediately before the commencement of the Finance Act, 2021: Provided further that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply in a case, where a notice under section 153A, or section 153C read with section 153A, is required to be issued in relation to a search initiated under section 132 or books of account, other documents or any assets requisitioned under section 132A, on or before the 31st day of March, 2021: Provided also that for the purposes of computing the period of limitation as per this section, the time or extended time allowed to the assessee, as per show-cause notice issued under clause (b) of section 148A or the period during which the proceeding under section 148A is stayed by a....