TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (10) TMI 1631
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
..... 2. The assessee in the present case is a company which is engaged in the business of trading in paper and paper board. The return of income for the year under consideration was filed by it on 26.09.2011 declaring a total income of Rs. 66,90,718/-. In the assessment originally completed u/s 143(3) vide an order dated 25.03.2014, the total income of the assessee was determined by the AO at Rs. 1,91,58,490/-. The said assessment was subsequently reopened by the AO and a notice u/s 148 was issued by him on 30.06.2014 after recording the reasons. In reply, a letter was filed by the assessee on 09.07.2014 stating that the return originally filed by it on 26.09.2011 may be treated as the return filed in response to notice issued u/s....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....hin six months from the end of the year in which the return was filed. I find that the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Hotel Blue Moon (supra) has held that procedure of section 143(2) is mandatory and to be followed in an assessment, Hon'ble Apex Court held as under (summarized): ● While notice u/s 143(2) is not necessary if the AO accepts the return as filed, the notice within the prescribed time is mandatory if the AO proposes to make an assessment u/s 158BC r.w.s. 143(3). Omission to issue notice u/s 143(2) is not a procedural irregularity and the same is not curable and, the requirement of notice u/s. 143(2) cannot be dispensed with. If the intention of the legislature was to exclude the provisions of s.143 (2),legisla....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....sions will apply to reassessment proceedings as held by Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of Palaniappan (supra). Accordingly, I quash the assessment in the present case. This ground of appeal is allowed." The Ld. CIT (A) also deleted all the additions made by the AO to the total income of the assessee in the assessment completed u/s 147/144 vide his impugned order and allowed the appeal of the assessee. 4. Aggrieved by the order of the Ld. CIT(A), the revenue has preferred this appeal before the Tribunal on the following grounds: "1. That on the facts and in circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT (A) has erred in appreciating the fact that the assessee did not comply with notice u/s 148 of the I.T. Act and....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....Ld. CIT (A) has erred in appreciating the facts that the assessee has failed to substantiate the expenses of Rs. 11,69,129/- in original proceedings and also in remand proceedings." 5. We have heard the arguments of both the sides and also perused the relevant material available on record. In support of the Revenue's case on the preliminary issue involved in Ground No. 1 relating to the validity of the assessment made by the AO u/s 147/144, the learned DR has contended that there being no return of income filed by the assessee in response to the notice issued by the AO u/s 148, there was no requirement of issue of notice u/s 143(2) and the Ld. CIT (A) is not justified in quashing the assessment made by the AO u/s 147/144 for wa....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....iginally filed should be treated as the return filed pursuant to the notice u/s 148. The AO thereafter, proceeded to complete the reassessment without issuing a notice u/s 143(2) and it was held by the Hon'ble Delhi High Court that the failure by the AO to issue a notice to the assessee u/s 143(2) subsequent to 16.12.2010 when the assessee made the statement before the AO to the effect that the original return filed should be treated as a return filed pursuant to a notice u/s 148 of the Act, was fatal to the order of reassessment. It was held that there was thus no legal infirmity in the order of the Tribunal cancelling the reassessment made by the AO on the ground that the same was made without issue of notice u/s 143(2). In our opinion, t....