Case Law Details
Validity of reassessment proceedings is not affected if reasons are recorded by the Assessing Officer for reopening the assessment but not furnished to the taxpayer within a limitation period
There is no requirement in Section 147 or Section 148 or Section 149 that the reasons recorded should also accompany the notice issued under Section 148. The requirement in Section 149(1) is only that the notice under Section 148 shall be issued. There is no requirement that it should also be served on the assessee before the period of limitation.
There is also no requirement in Section 148(2) that the reasons recorded shall be served along with the notice of reopening the assessment. The requirement, which is mandatory, is only that before issuing the notice to reopen the assessment the Assessing Officer shall record his reasons for doing so.
It is significant to note that the recording of the reasons under Section 148(2) shall precede the issue of notice under Section 148(1) as indicated clearly by the words “before issuing any notice under this section”.
The only feature in the present case is that there was a delay of 4 1/2 months in supplying the reasons recorded by the Assessing Officer to the petitioner. This by itself cannot invalidate the reassessment proceedings.
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