Ashok Madhavdas Khurana Vs ACIT (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court considered a writ petition challenging a notice dated 16.03.2026 issued under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 seeking to reopen the petitioner’s assessment for Assessment Year (AY) 2015-16. The petitioner had originally filed its return for AY 2015-16 on 30.10.2015 declaring total income of Rs.7,17,970. Subsequently, a search under Section 132 was conducted on 18.05.2024 in the MSK and Madhav Group, of which the petitioner formed part. Based on the search, the respondent issued the impugned notice under Section 148 stating that books of account, documents, or information seized during the search related to the petitioner.
The petitioner principally challenged the notice on the ground of limitation. It contended that since the search was conducted on 18.05.2024 during Financial Year 2024-25, the relevant assessment year was AY 2025-26. According to the petitioner, under the statutory scheme applicable to searches initiated between 1 April 2021 and 1 September 2024, the computation of the extended ten-year period under Section 153A required inclusion of the search assessment year. On that basis, the ten assessment years extended only up to AY 2016-17, making the notice issued for AY 2015-16 beyond the permissible statutory period. The petitioner relied upon the decisions in Dinesh Jindal v. Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax, Principal Commissioner of Income-tax (Central-1) v. Ojjus Medicare (P.) Ltd., and A.R. Safiullah v. ACIT.
