Indian Medical Association – College of General Practitioners Head Quts Trust Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
Faceless Scheme Mandatory -148 Notice by JAO After Faceless Regime? Chennai ITAT Quashes Entire Reassessment
Assessee raised a pure legal ground challenging the validity of notice u/s 148 dt 09.03.2023, issued not by the Faceless Assessment Unit but by the Jurisdictional AO, despite CBDT Notification dated 29.03.2022 & Scheme u/s 151A mandating faceless issuance of all 148/148A notices.
Tribunal examined the notice & the long list of favourable High Court rulings cited including Madras HC Division Bench in Mark Studio (24.06.2025), Bombay HC in Hexaware (464 ITR 430), Telangana HC in Venkataramana Reddy, Gauhati HC in Ram Narayan Sah, & P&H HC in Jatinder Singh Bhangu, all holding JAO-issued notices after 29.03.2022 to be invalid. Though Revenue relied on Delhi & Calcutta HCs & a Single Bench of Madras HC, Tribunal held itself bound by the jurisdictional Division Bench, which had reversed the Single Bench. Accordingly, the reopening & reassessment order dated 29.12.2023 were declared null in law, & Tribunal declined to examine additions on merits. In the penalty appeal, since the 142(1) notice dated 27.07.2023 flowed from the invalid 148 notice, penalty u/s 272A(1)(d) was also quashed.
