ITO Vs Ashish Acharatlal Varaiya (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered the Special Leave Petitions arising from the Gujarat High Court judgment concerning reassessment notices issued under Section 148 and orders under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for Assessment Years 2013-14 and 2014-15. The Gujarat High Court had dealt with five Special Civil Applications together because they involved similar facts and identical issues. The petitioners challenged Section 148 notices and consequential Section 148A(d) orders issued in July 2022, contending that the reassessment proceedings were barred by limitation.
Read HC Judgment in this case: Gujarat HC Holds Amended Section 149 Cannot Revive Time-Barred Reassessment Notices
Before the High Court, the petitioners relied upon the pre-Finance Act, 2021 limitation regime under Section 149, under which a Section 148 notice could, subject to the prescribed conditions, be issued beyond four years but within six years from the end of the relevant assessment year. They also relied upon the first proviso to the substituted Section 149 introduced with effect from 01.04.2021, which provided that a notice could not be issued for an assessment year beginning on or before 01.04.2021 where it could not have been issued at that time because it was beyond the limitation under the earlier provision.
