Case Law Details
M/s Ardent Steel Limited, Vs ACIT (Chhattisgarh High Court)
A focused glance of the Section 149 provision would show that the maximum time limit for issuance of notice under Section 148 of the IT Act is six years from the end of relevant assessment year. In the present case, the relevant assessment year is 2009-10 and the impugned notice is said to have been issued on 15-3-2016 on the incorrect address of the petitioner / assessee which has already been changed on the date of issuance of notice by updating the PAN data base. The term ‘shall be issued’ used in Section 149 of the IT Act is extremely important.
After issuing notice and after due dispatch, it must be placed in hands of the serving officer like the post office by speed post or by registered post etc., by which the officer issuing notice may not have control over the said notice after issuance of the said notice. It must be properly stamped and issued on the correct address to whom it has been Mere signing of notice cannot be equated with the issuance of notice as contemplated under Section 149 of the IT Act.
It is for the Revenue by producing the dispatch register to establish that the orders are complete and effective i.e., it is issued, so as to be beyond the control of the authority concerned within the period of limitation.
In the absence of dispatch date made available to the Court from the records, to prove that the order is issued within the prescribed period, order passed by Assessing Officer is barred by limitation.
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