PCIT Vs Ram Narayan Sah (Gauhati High Court)
The Gauhati High Court allowed an interlocutory application filed by the Income Tax Department seeking to bring on record the Supreme Court’s order dated 10.04.2026 in a batch of appeals, including Income Tax Officer, Ward 2(1), Chandigarh & others vs. Tej Pratap Singh.
The original writ petition, W.P.(C) No. 2438/2024, challenged the legality of the order dated 26.03.2024 under Section 148A and the notice dated 26.03.2024 under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, issued by the Jurisdiction Assessing Officer (JAO). The challenge was based on the contention that the JAO lacked authority under Section 151A of the Act and the E-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2022.
By order dated 20.05.2024, the High Court had disposed of the writ petition after observing that reassessment proceedings and issuance of notices under Section 148 were to be carried out through automated allocation and a faceless mechanism, while granting liberty to the Department to issue a fresh notice.
The Court noted that the Supreme Court, by order dated 10.04.2026, had set aside judgments quashing reassessment notices on the limited ground of JAO competence in view of Act No. 4 of 2026 and remitted such matters to the respective High Courts. Since the earlier judgment in the present case had also been set aside by the Supreme Court, the High Court allowed the interlocutory application and restored W.P.(C) No. 2438/2024 to its original file.
