Selvakumar Vethamonickam Nadar Vs ITO (Bombay High Court)
Reassessment for A.Y. 2015–16 After 1 April 2021 Held Void – Bombay High Court Reaffirms Binding Nature of Revenue’s Concession
The Bombay High Court, in Selvakumar Vethamonickam Nadar v. Income Tax Officer Ward 34(3)(2), Mumbai (Writ Petition (L) No. 41554 of 2025, decided on 24 December 2025), has once again conclusively settled the law governing reassessment proceedings for Assessment Year 2015–16 initiated after 1 April 2021. The Court quashed the reassessment notice issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, together with all consequential proceedings, on the ground that the notice was barred by limitation and without jurisdiction.
The main issue for consideration before the Court was whether a notice under Section 148 dated 23 April 2022 for A.Y. 2015–16, issued after the coming into force of the reassessment regime introduced by the Finance Act, 2021, was barred by limitation and liable to be quashed in light of the binding concession made by the Revenue before the Supreme Court. Although multiple grounds were raised in the writ petition, the matter was argued and decided exclusively on this jurisdictional issue.
The statutory framework relevant to the controversy traces its origin to the Finance Act, 2021, which substituted Sections 147 to 151 of the Income-tax Act with effect from 1 April 2021, introducing a new reassessment architecture, including mandatory pre-notice procedure under Section 148A and revised limitation provisions under Section 149. The first proviso to Section 149(1) places a clear embargo on reopening where such notice could not have been issued on the same date under the unamended law. Considerable litigation arose on whether the limitation extensions under the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 (TOLA) could revive reassessment proceedings that were otherwise time-barred.
