Jay Bharat Dyeing And Printing Pvt. Ltd. Vs ACIT (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court considered a writ petition challenging the order dated 27.07.2022 passed under Section 148A(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the notice dated 27.07.2022 issued under Section 148 for Assessment Year 2015-16. The petitioner, a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, stated that its assessment had originally been completed under Section 143(3) by order dated 22.12.2017 after scrutiny. Following the Supreme Court’s judgment in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal, the respondent issued a show cause notice under Section 148A(b) on 01.06.2022. The petitioner replied on 20.06.2022 requesting that the reassessment proceedings be dropped. However, by order dated 27.07.2022 under Section 148A(d), the respondent held that income amounting to Rs. 1,05,00,000 had escaped assessment and issued a notice under Section 148 on the same date.
The petitioner contended that the reassessment proceedings were barred by limitation. It was submitted that, for Assessment Year 2015-16, the Revenue had conceded before the Supreme Court that notices issued on or after 01.04.2021 which did not fall within the period prescribed under the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 (TOLA) were liable to be dropped. It was further submitted that under the amended reassessment provisions, notices under Section 148A(b) could have been issued only up to 31.03.2022 and, therefore, the subsequent proceedings, including the order under Section 148A(d) and the notice under Section 148 dated 27.07.2022, were time-barred.
