Swami Shanti Prakash Ashram Trust Vs ACIT (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court allowed the writ petition filed by the assessee, challenging the validity of a notice issued under section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2015–16 and the consequent assessment order passed under section 147 read with section 143(3).
The notice under section 148 was issued on 28 March 2021, and the reassessment order was passed on 26 March 2022. Although several grounds were raised in the petition, the principal issue argued before the Court was that the impugned notice was issued without obtaining sanction from the competent authority as required under section 151 of the Act.
The petitioner contended that since the notice was issued on 28 March 2021, the unamended provisions of section 151 were applicable. According to the petitioner, having regard to the assessment year involved and the extended limitation under the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 (TOLA), the notice was issued within four years from the end of Assessment Year 2015–16. Therefore, sanction for issuance of the notice under section 148 ought to have been granted by the Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in terms of section 151(2). However, in the present case, the approval was granted by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Pune, who was not the competent authority under the applicable provision. On this ground alone, it was argued that the notice was invalid.
