Janus Infrastructure Projects Private Limited Vs ACIT (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court addressed a writ petition filed by Janus Infrastructure Projects Private Limited challenging a reassessment notice dated February 6, 2024, issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. This notice sought to reassess the petitioner’s income for the Assessment Year 2014-15. The court noted that since the notice was issued after April 1, 2021, the amended reassessment regime applied. Under this regime, particularly the First Proviso to Section 149(1), reassessment for an assessment year prior to April 1, 2021, like AY 2014-15, could only be initiated within ten years from the end of the relevant assessment year, provided the Assessing Officer possessed evidence indicating escaped income of fifty lakh rupees or more. The court emphasized that the action must also comply with the time limits specified under Section 149(1)(b), Section 153A, or Section 153C as they existed before the Finance Act, 2021.
Applying these provisions, the Delhi High Court found that the reassessment notice for AY 2014-15 was clearly beyond the permissible time limit. The court referred to its previous decisions in Filatex India Ltd. vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and Flowmore Limited vs. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, which dealt with similar issues of time limit computation under Section 153C. These decisions, relying on the principles established in Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-1 vs. Ojjus Medicare Pvt. Ltd., clarified how the “relevant assessment year” is determined, especially in cases involving search and seizure operations related to third parties. In this instance, a search concerning a third party occurred on March 2, 2022, and the notice to Janus Infrastructure was issued on October 6, 2023. Considering the ten-year block period from the end of AY 2014-15, which ended on March 31, 2025, the notice issued in February 2024 fell outside this limit. Consequently, the Delhi High Court allowed the writ petition and quashed the reassessment notice dated February 6, 2024.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
