Deepbharti Welfare Society Vs Income Tax Exemption (Bombay High Court)
The Bombay High Court disposed of a writ petition challenging a notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act dated March 30, 2022 and the consequential assessment order dated March 22, 2023 for Assessment Year 2015-16. The petitioner had primarily challenged the reassessment proceedings on the ground that the notice was issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer instead of the Faceless Assessing Officer, alleging non-compliance with Section 151A of the Act. A coordinate Bench had earlier allowed the writ petition on August 26, 2024 by relying on the judgment in Hexaware Technologies Ltd., quashing the Section 148 notice and all consequential proceedings.
The Department challenged that decision before the Supreme Court. The matter was heard along with a batch of similar cases, and by order dated April 10, 2026, the Supreme Court remitted all matters to the respective High Courts without expressing any opinion on the merits, particularly in view of the retrospective amendment introduced by the Finance Act, 2026. Consequently, the writ petition came up before the Bombay High Court for fresh consideration.
During the hearing, the petitioner informed the Court that it had also filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) challenging the assessment order. Following the High Court’s earlier decision quashing the reassessment, the Commissioner (Appeals) had treated the appeal as defunct, observing that it would stand revived if the issue relating to Section 151A was decided in favour of the Department. Subsequently, the Department’s appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal against the Commissioner (Appeals)’ order was dismissed as infructuous because the assessment order had already been quashed by the High Court.
