Asif Ahmed Vs Union of India & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court considered a writ petition challenging an order dated June 18, 2025 passed under Section 148A(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the consequential notice issued under Section 148 for the assessment year 2021–2022. The petitioner contended that the order was passed in violation of the principles of natural justice as the show cause notice under Section 148A(1) was never served upon him.
The petitioner submitted that although the notice may have been sent to his consultant’s email address, his own email address was already registered with the Income Tax Department and, therefore, service ought to have been effected there. According to the petitioner, the consultant did not inform him about the notice. He claimed to have first learned of the proceedings when the impugned order and notice under Section 148 were served on his registered email address. It was argued that since no notice under Section 148A(1) was served on him directly, he was deprived of the opportunity to file objections. Consequently, the order under Section 148A(3) and the notice under Section 148 were stated to be legally unsustainable. The petitioner also argued that the approval granted by the specified authority under Section 151 for issuance of the order and notice had not been served upon him.
