Ashish Mansukhlal Gokani Mithapur Vs CIT (Appeals) (ITAT Rajkot)
AY 2013-14 Beyond Limitation- Jurisdictional Defect Fatal: Wrong Sanction & Late 148 Notice Void the Reassessment
Assessee filed return declaring Rs.1,85,850/-. Based on Insight-Portal information regarding total bank credits of Rs.1,61,84,806/-, AO reopened assessment u/s 147 & completed reassessment u/s 144/147 on 29.03.2022, treating Rs.70,38,117/- as unexplained credits u/s 68. CIT(A)/NFAC partly sustained addition at Rs.7,49,971/-.
Before Tribunal, Assessee challenged the legality of reopening. Tribunal examined the statutory limitation & found that for AY 2013-14, the last permissible date for issuing notice u/s 148 was 31.03.2020, but AO issued notice on 16.04.2021. The order clearly records that the notice was issued beyond limitation & was therefore invalid. Tribunal further held that sanction was wrongly obtained from the Principal CIT instead of the Principal Chief CIT, which is mandatory where reopening exceeds 4 years. Both defects rendered the notice void ab initio. Tribunal held that such jurisdictional defects cannot be cured by s.292BB.
Since the very foundation of reassessment was invalid, Tribunal quashed the entire reassessment proceedings, without examining merits of additions. Consequently, all grounds on merits became infructuous. Appeal of Assessee allowed in full.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT RAJKOT
