Darshan Dhankani Vs PCIT (Rajasthan High Court)
The petitioner challenged a notice dated 24 March 2024 issued under Section 148 and the assessment order dated 21 March 2025 passed under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act. One of the central grounds raised was that the reassessment proceedings were initiated by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) instead of the Faceless Assessing Officer (FAO). The petitioner relied on previous decisions of the Rajasthan High Court in Shree Cement Limited and Sharda Devi Chhajer, which followed the Bombay High Court’s ruling in Hexaware Technologies Ltd., holding that reassessment notices issued by a JAO, instead of an FAO, are invalid under the faceless regime. Based on these rulings, the petitioner argued that the notice and the resulting assessment order were unsustainable.
The Revenue relied on the Gujarat High Court decision in Talati and Talati LLP, where the validity of a Section 148 notice in the context of search and seizure information was upheld. It argued that the Gujarat Court had accepted that automated allocation under the faceless scheme could not apply in such cases due to the nature of the information and the necessity of human satisfaction under Explanation 2 to Section 148.
