Sampark Management Consultancy LLP Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi Bench, has set aside reassessment notices issued to Sampark Management Consultancy LLP for the assessment years 2016-17 and 2017-18. The Tribunal’s decision, pronounced on June 25, 2025, primarily hinges on the finding that the notices were issued with an invalid sanction from an incompetent authority, in contravention of the amended provisions of Section 151 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as substituted by the Finance Act, 2021.
Case Background
Sampark Management Consultancy LLP had filed its income tax returns for AY 2016-17 on September 29, 2016, and for AY 2017-18 on September 18, 2017. Notices under the old Section 148 of the Act were initially issued on June 31, 2021, for both years. However, the Finance Act, 2021, had replaced Section 148 with effect from April 1, 2021, meaning notices under the old provisions should have been issued by March 31, 2021.
The assessee company was part of the broader litigation addressed by the Supreme Court in Union of India vs. Ashish Agarwal, 444 ITR 1 (SC), which clarified the applicability of the new reassessment regime. Following this, the Assessing Officer (AO) issued fresh notices under the new framework. Specifically, a notice under Section 148A(b) was issued on May 27, 2022. Subsequently, an order under Section 148A(d) was passed on July 28, 2022, for AY 2016-17, and on July 27, 2022, for AY 2017-18, followed by the issuance of Section 148 notices on July 28, 2022, for both years.
