Chinnappan Peter Francis Vs. ITO (ITAT Chennai)
148 Notice by JAO After 29.03.22 Invalid- ITAT Chennai Quashes Reassessment – Notice u/s 148 Issued by Jurisdictional AO Instead of Faceless Unit Invalid
148 Notice by JAO After 29.03.22 Invalid- ITAT Chennai Quashes Reassessment – Notice u/s 148 Issued by Jurisdictional AO Instead of Faceless Unit Invalid Assessee, a priest administering the Diocese & correspondent of a primary school, had deposited ₹55.78 lakh cash in South Indian Bank. Not having filed ROI u/s 139(1), he was issued notice u/s 148 on 07.04.2022 by ITO, Ward-1, Thanjavur. AO completed reassessment adding ₹28.53 lakh as unexplained cash deposits. CIT(A) NFAC upheld the addition
Assessee’s Argument
- Cited CBDT Notification dated 29.03.2022 mandating that all reassessment notices u/s 148 must be issued only through Faceless Assessment Officer (FAO).
- Notice issued by Jurisdictional AO (JAO) post 29.03.2022 was invalid.
- Relied on Madras HC ruling in TVS Credit Services Ltd. vs. DCIT (24.06.2025) following Hexaware Technologies Ltd. (Bom HC), holding JAO-issued notices bad in law
Tribunal’s Observations
- CBDT Notification of 29.03.2022 introduced E-Assessment of Income Scheme, 2022 under s.151A, mandating faceless issuance of s.148 notices.
- In this case, both notice u/s 148 & order u/s 148A(d), dated 07.04.2022, were issued by JAO, not NFAC → contrary to law.
- Relied on rulings of Telangana HC (Kankanala Ravindra Reddy, Ta Infra Projects), Bombay HC (Hexaware Technologies), P&H HC (Jatinder Singh Bhangu), Gauhati HC (Ram Narayan Sah).
- Supreme Court in Deepanjan Roy SLP (2025) dismissed Revenue’s challenge, upholding HC view.
- Following Madras HC (TVS Credit Services Ltd.) & coordinate bench in Loganathan Dhandapani vs. ACIT (14.08.2025), Tribunal held notice invalid
Tribunal’s Decision
- Notice u/s 148 & all consequential reassessment orders quashed.
- Assessment order dated 30.01.2024 declared null & void.
- Revenue’s right kept open if SC reverses Hexaware ruling in future.
- Appeal allowed in full
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT CHENNAI
