TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 617
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....r disposing of the objections dated 1st March, 2022; the Assessment Order dated 27th March, 2022 and consequential notice of demand dated 27th March 2022, alongwith all consequential proceedings. 3. The short ground on which the Notice under Section 148 is challenged is that the wrong authority has granted sanction for issuance of the Notice issued under Section 148. Hence, the Notice is invalid and bad in law. In the facts of the present case, it is undisputed that the Assessment Year in question is Assessment Year 2015-16. The Notice issued under Section 148 is dated 31st March 2021, and hence, is covered by the law that was in existence prior to the amendment on 1st April, 2021. 4. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....uthority competent to grant sanction under Section 151. On this basis, the impugned notice was quashed. We find that the decision in Global Earth Properties and Developers Pvt. Ltd. (supra) squarely applies to the facts of the present case. The relevant portion of the decision of this Court in Global Earth Properties and Developers Pvt. Ltd. (supra) is reproduced under: "19. We are in agreement with the primary contention of the Petitioner that the impugned notice issued under section 148 of the Act on March 31, 2021, for Assessment Year 2015-16, falls within the period of March 20, 2020 and March 31, 2021. Therefore, the relaxation on account of the provisions of TOLA stand applicable in respect of sanction under section 151 of th....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... of the new regime Three years or less than three years from the end of the relevant assessment year Principal Commissioner or Principal Director or Commissioner or Director Section 151(ii) of the new regime More than three years have elapsed from the end of the relevant assessment year Principal Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Chief Commissioner or Director General 74. The above table indicates that the specified authority is directly co-related to the time when the notice is issued. This plays out as follows under the old regime: (i) If income escaping assessment was less than Rupees one lakh: (a) a reassessment notice could be issued under section 148 within four years after o....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....fied authority under section 151(2) has time till 31 March 2021 to grant approval. The time limit for Section 151 of the old regime expires on 31 March 2021 because the new regime comes into effect on 1 April 2021" (emphasis supplied). 20. The coordinate bench of this Court in the case of Prabhakar Nerulkar v. PCIT (supra) has also followed the decision in Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal (supra). The facts in Prabhakar Nerulkar (Supra) are almost identical to the facts of the Petitioner's case. Accordingly, we are unable to accept the argument of the of the Respondents that the impugned notice issued under section 148 of the Act falls beyond the period of four years from the end of the relevant Assessment Year 2015-16. Fir....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the decision of the coordinate bench of this Court in case of Ghanshyam K. Khabrani v. ACIT (supra). Hence, the Petition is liable to succeed on this ground alone. " 5. In fact the decision in Global Earth Properties and Developers Pvt. Ltd. (supra) was thereafter again followed by this Court in the case of Kishore Sewaranm Jadwani Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax-Circle 24(1) and Anr. [Writ Petition No. 2737 of 2023 decided on 24th February, 2026]. In the case of Kishore Sewaranm Jadwani (supra) also, the Assessment Year in question was Assessment Year 2015-16 and the Notice issued under Section 148 was dated 31st March, 2021. 6. Since, the facts of the present case are identical to the facts in Global Earth Properties and D....