Jyoti Sareen Vs Union of India and others (Punjab and Haryana High Court)
Yet again JAO Cannot Issue Section 148 Notice: P&H High Court Strikes Down Section 147A
Summary: If your reassessment notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was issued by your Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) and not through the faceless system, this judgment matters to you. On 10 September 2026, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Justice Deepak Sibal and Justice Rupinderjit Chahal) declared Section 147A unconstitutional and set aside the Section 148 notices issued by JAOs in a batch of nearly 700 writ petitions.
The facts in brief
Jyoti Sareen, an advocate, received a Section 148 notice dated 15.03.2024 for AY 2020-21 from her JAO. The High Court quashed it on 19.07.2024 for violating Section 151A and the e-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2022 dated 29.03.2022. While the Revenue’s appeal was pending, Parliament inserted Section 147A through the Finance Act, 2026, retrospectively from 01.04.2021. On 10.04.2026, the Supreme Court set aside those rulings and remitted the matters for assessees to challenge Section 147A.
The JAO vs FAO dispute
Clause 3(b) of the 2022 Scheme says that issuance of a notice under Section 148 shall be “through automated allocation” and “in a faceless manner”. Eleven judgments from eight High Courts held that only a Faceless Assessing Officer (FAO) could therefore issue the notice, while three High Courts disagreed. Section 147A was Parliament’s answer: notwithstanding any judgment, Section 151A or the Scheme, the Assessing Officer for Sections 148 and 148A “shall always be deemed” to be an officer other than the National Faceless Assessment Centre or its assessment units.
