JAO Cease To Have Jurisdiction To Issue Reassessment Notice Outside Faceless Assessment: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) would cease to have jurisdiction to issue any notice under Section 148A(b) and to take further actions under Section 148A(d) and Section 148 of the Act, outside the faceless assessment.

The bench of Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan has observed that the JAO did not have the authority to issue the reassessment notices in view of the faceless scheme notified under Section 151A of the Income Tax Act by the Central Government in the notification dated March 29, 2022.

The petitioner/assessee has challenged the reassessment notice issued under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act as well as the consequent order under Section 148A(d). The notice issued to the petitioner under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act has been issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer.

The petitioner contended that in view of the faceless scheme notified under Section 151A by the Central Government via notification dated March 29, 2022, the JAO did not have the authority to issue the notices, as necessarily, such exercise, if at all, was required to be undertaken under the faceless assessment scheme.

The issue raised was whether the reassessment notice is invalid and bad in law being issued by the JAO as the same was not in accordance with Section 151A of the Income Tax Act.

Section 151A of the Income Tax Act grants powers to the Central Government to make a scheme for assessment, reassessment, or re-computation under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, issue notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, or sanction the issue of such notice under Section 151 of the Income Tax Act.

The court, while allowing the petition, quashed the notice under Section 148 and the order passed under Section 148A(d).

Counsel For Petitioner: K. Shivraman

Counsel For Respondent: P. A. Narayanan

Case Title: Royal Bitumen Private Limited, Mumbai Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income-Tax

Case No.: Writ Petition (L.) No. 18296 Of 2024

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