TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (5) TMI 455
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....1961, on 21.06.2021 for AY. 2013-14 was barred by limitation, without considering the statutory extensions granted by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 ("TOLA Act") due to the COVID-19 pandemic? 2. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) erred in interpreting the Supreme Court judgment in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal (2022) as rendering the reassessment notice under section 148 invalid, when the Hon'ble Supreme Court had expressly preserved such notices as show-cause notices under section 148A(b) and mandated compliance with procedural safeguards? 3. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) erred in ignoring the extended limitation period provided under amended section 149(1)(b) of the income-tax Act, 1961, which allows reassessment up to ten years in cases where escaped income exceeds Rs. 50 lakhs, particularly when the unaccounted credits in the assessee's accounts exceeded this threshold? 4. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) erred in holding the reass....
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....sessment proceedings be quashed. WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO ABOVE 2. CROSS OBJECTION 2: ADDITION OF RS. 2,20,85,843/- AS UNEXPLAINED CASH CREDIT U/S. 68 OF THE ACT 2.1. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Id. AO erred in making addition of Rs. 2,20,85,843/- as unexplained cash credit u/s 68 of the Act based on conjuncture and surmises. 2.2. The Cross Objector prays that the addition of Rs. 2,20,85,843/- be deleted. 3. CROSS OBJECTION 3: INTEREST U/S. 234B OF THE ACT 3.1. On the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Id. AO erred in levying interest u/s 234B of the Act. 3.2. The Cross Objector therefore prays that the Id. A0 be directed to delete the interest u/s 234B or reduce appropriately." 4. As the Revenue in its appeal has challenged the relief granted by the learned CIT(A) in quashing the notice issued under section 148 of the Act on the ground of limitation, we are considering the Revenue's appeal at the outset. During the hearing, the learned Authorised Representative ("learned AR") submitted that the notice issued under section 148 of the Act on 31/07/2022 is barre....
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....ground raised by the assessee on this issue and held that as the initiation of the assessment proceedings itself was time barred and void ab initio, the assessment order cannot withstand. Being aggrieved, the Revenue is in appeal before us. While the assessee filed the cross-objection raising, inter alia, the grounds on merits. 8. We have considered the submissions of both sides and perused the material available on record. We find that the Hon'ble Supreme Court in paragraphs 106 and 107 of its decision in Rajeev Bansal (supra), observed as follows: - "106. In Ashish Agarwal (supra), this Court directed the assessing officers to provide relevant information and materials relied upon by the Revenue to the assesses within thirty days from the date of the judgment. A show cause notice is effectively issued in terms of Section 148A(b) only if it is supplied along with the relevant information and material by the assessing officer. Due to the legal fiction, the assessing officers were deemed to have been inhibited from acting in pursuance of the Section 148A(b) notice till the relevant material was supplied to the assesses. Therefore, the show cause notices were deemed to ha....
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.... old regime, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Rajeev Bansal (supra), analysing the interplay of Ashish Agarwal (supra) with the TOLA, in paragraph 108 of its judgment observed as follows: - "108. The Income Tax Act read with TOLA extended the time limit for issuing reassessment notices under Section 148, which fell for completion from 20 March 2020 to 31 March 2021, till 30 June 2021. All the reassessment notices under challenge in the present appeals were issued from 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021 under the old regime. Ashish Agarwal (supra) deemed these reassessment notices under the old regime as show cause notices under the new regime with effect from the date of issuance of the reassessment notices. The effect of creating the legal fiction is that this Court has to imagine as real all the consequences and incidents that will inevitably flow from the fiction. Therefore, the logical effect of the creation of the legal fiction by Ashish Agarwal (supra) is that the time surviving under the Income Tax Act read with TOLA will be available to the Revenue to complete the remaining proceedings in furtherance of the deemed notices, including issuance of reassessment notices under Sec....