TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (10) TMI 198
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....) of the Writ Petition which reads as under: "(a) That this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue a Writ of Certiorari or a Writ in the nature of Certiorari or any other appropriate Writ, Order or direction, calling for the records of the Petitioner's case and after going into the validity of sanction of Notice u/s. 148 dated 19.04.2021 (Exh. A) and deemed show cause notice u/s. 148A(b) dated 27.05.2022 and new Notice u/s. 148 and order u/s. 148A(d) of the Act dated 28.07.2022 and 22.07.2022 respectively and re-assessment order dated 13.06.2025 for A.Y. 2016-17 to be quashed and set aside. (Exh. B, D to F)" 4. Initially, Respondent No. 1 had issued notice under Section 148 (under the erstwhile law of re-assessment) on 19.04.2021 [placed at Exhibit D of the Petition] for Assessment Year 2016-17. Subsequently, in consequence of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India vs. Ashish Agarwal (2022) 444 ITR 1 (SC), the communication dated 27th May 2022 [placed at Exhibit B of the Petition], was sent to the Petitioner intimating that the aforesaid notice issued under Section 148 of the Act (under old regime) would be treated as a show-cause....
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....ctor General, is wholly misconceived. It is accordingly submitted by the Respondents that there is no merit in the above Writ Petition, and ought not to be entertained. 7. In these facts, the limited point to be examined is whether the notice dated 28th July 2022 issued under Section 148 for the Assessment Year 2016-17 after obtaining approval of Respondent No. 2 [i.e. the PCIT(Central)-4, Mumbai], was in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 8. The Petitioner has drawn our attention to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India vs. Rajeev Bansal [2024] 167 taxmann.com 70 (SC)/[2024] 301 Taxman 238 (SC)/[2024] 469 ITR 46 (SC) and we deem it appropriate to refer to the said judgment, where the Hon'ble Supreme Court has, while dealing with the issue of approval from the specified authority in terms of Section 151 of the Act, made the following observations in paragraphs 73 to 81. "iii. Sanction of the specified authority 73. Section 151 imposes a check upon the power of the Revenue to reopen assessments. The provision imposes a responsibility on the Revenue to ensure that it obtains the sanction of the specified author....
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....m the appropriate authorities specified under section 151 of the new regime. The effect of Section 151 of the new regime is thus: (i) If income escaping assessment is less than Rupees fifty lakhs: (a) a reassessment notice could be issued within three years after obtaining the prior approval of the Principal Commissioner, or Principal Director or Commissioner or Director; and (b) no notice could be issued after the expiry of three years; and (ii) If income escaping assessment is more than Rupees fifty lakhs: (a) a reassessment notice could be issued within three years after obtaining the prior approval of the Principal Commissioner, or Principal Director or Commissioner or Director; and (b) after three years after obtaining the prior approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or Principal Director General or Chief Commissioner or Director General. 76. Grant of sanction by the appropriate authority is a precondition for the assessing officer to assume jurisdiction under section 148 to issue a reassessment notice. Section 151 of the new regime does not prescribe a time limit within which a specified authority has to gra....
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....m a show cause notice as to why a notice under section 148 should not be issued based on the information that suggests that income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment. It must be noted that this requirement has been deleted by the Finance Act 2022;33 c. Section 148A(d) - to pass an order deciding whether or not it is a fit case for issuing a notice under section 148; and d. Section 148 - to issue a reassessment notice. 80. In Ashish Agarwal (supra), this Court directed that Section 148 notices which were challenged before various High Courts "shall be deemed to have been issued under section 148-A of the Income-tax Act as substituted by the Finance Act, 2021 and construed or treated to be show-cause notices in terms of Section 148-A(b)." Further, this Court dispensed with the requirement of conducting any enquiry with the prior approval of the specified authority under section 148A(a). Under Section 148A(b), an assessing officer was required to obtain prior approval from the specified authority before issuing a show cause notice. When this Court deemed the Section 148 notices under the old regime as Section 148A(b) notices under the new regime, it im....
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.... we conclude that in the present case the approval has been obtained from the authority specified under Section 151(i) of the new regime instead of the authority specified under Section 151(ii) of the new regime. 10. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the above case has drawn an illustration in paragraph 78 of its order in the context of Assessment Year 2017-18, wherein it is categorically held that the authority specified under Section 151(i) can accord sanction only upto 30th June 2021. This illustration makes it absolutely clear that when the period of three years from the end of relevant Assessment Year expired between 20th March 2020 and 31st March 2021, the extension by virtue of TOLA was upto 30th June 2021 and not beyond. Thus, it can be said that the period of three years from the end of the relevant Assessment Year (here A.Y. 2016-17) expired on 30th June 2021, whereas Respondent No. 1, despite issuing the notice on 28th July 2022 in respect of Assessment Year 2016-17, has obtained approval of Respondent No. 2, who is the authority mentioned in Section 151(i) and not in Section 151(ii). 11. Non-compliance by Respondent No. 1 with the provisions contained in Section 15....