TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 1484
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....Ground 4.The Appellant craves leave to amend OR alter any ground OR to submit additional new ground, which may be necessary. 2) Ground 2. Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) erred in quashing the notice u/s 148 dated 31.03.2024 on the ground that the same is barred by limitation ignoring the fact the notice u/s 148 was validly issued within the prescribed time limits after obtaining prior approval of the specified authority 3) Ground 3.Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) erred in not deciding the additions made by the AO on merits 4) Ground 1. Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. CIT(A) erred in qu....
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....(a) states that no notice shall be issued if three years have elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year. Further, section 149(1)(b) states that a notice may be issued beyond three years but not beyond ten years, only if the Assessing Officer possesses books of account, documents or evidence revealing escapement of income of Rs. 50 lakh or more, represented in the form of prescribed assets/expenses, etc. The first proviso to Section 149(1) categorically provides that no notice under Section 148 shall be issued for any assessment year up to A.Y. 2021- 22 if such notice was already barred under the erstwhile limitation (i.e., 6 years under the old law/regime of reassessment). Assessee has further contended that the newly extended 10....
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....ct 2021 is applicable to the A.Y. 2016-17 in the present facts and circumstances of the case. Along with the new time limit of ten years, the following proviso has been provided in the said section:- "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" 6.1. The issue in the present case is whether the above referred proviso restricts the period of reopening for the Assessme....
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....9;at any time' is to the date of the notice to be issued by the Assessing Officer and, therefore, the term 'at that time' would also refer to the said date. On the said date, if a notice could not have been issued under the erstwhile provision of Section 149(1)(b), for any assessment year beginning on or before the 1st day of April 2021, the notice cannot be issued even under the new provisions. 6.3. Section 149(1)(b) of the erstwhile provisions provided a time limit of six years from the end of the relevant assessment year for issuing notice under Section 148 of the Act. For the relevant assessment year, being Assessment Year 2016-17, 6th year expired on 31st March 2023. The notice under Section 148, in the present case, is ....
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....is invalid since it is barred by limitation. 8. On similar fact pattern, Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in the case of E-Homes Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. vs. DCIT [2024] 185 taxmann.com 299 (Delhi) held that since the impugned notice is beyond six years from the end of the relevant Assessment Year (Assessment Year 2016- 17), we find merit in the contention that the said impugned notice "since barred by limitation in terms of first proviso to section 149(1)". Contention of the Revenue on the above findings of the Hon'ble Court were that the time period for which a notice could be issued would require to be ascertained by reference to the provisions of Section 153C as the proceedings for reassessment have been initiated on the basis of informat....