Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Vs Deputy Commissioner (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court held that reopening of an assessment under section 147 of the Income Tax Act merely on the basis of communication from ACIT, without independent application of mind, is invalid and liable to be set aside.
Facts- The writ petitioner impugns the reassessment action initiated by the respondent u/s. 147/148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 pertaining to Assessment Year 2009-10. Petitioner stated that they have made appropriate disclosures along with the Return of Income including the filing of an Audit Report, Form No. 3CEB and a Tax Audit Report, the original RoI was subsequently revised declaring income of INR 12,62,60,79,909/-. The RoI was duly examined u/s. 143(3) r.w.s Section 144C of the Act and a final assessment order came to be passed on 02 January 2014 whereby the Assessing Officer computed the total taxable income at INR 20,71,04,18,575/-.
Undisputedly, 31 March 2016 constituted the last date by which a reassessment action for AY 2009-10 could have been initiated in terms of the timelines provided in Section 149. It is the case of the writ petitioner that the notice u/s. 148, however, came to be issued only on 01 April 2016.
