Sandesh Liladhar Chaudhari Vs ITO (ITAT Pune)
Notice u/s 148 Issued After 01.04.2021 for AY 2015-16 Held Invalid – ITAT Pune Quashes Reassessment
AO had issued notice u/s 148A(b) & order u/s 148A(d) on 26.07.2022, alleging cash deposit of ₹1.01 crore in Renukamata Multistate Urban Co-op Society. Assessee objected that details were mismatched, deposits were only ₹2.54 lakh, return was already filed & CBDT instructions did not permit reopening below ₹50 lakh.
Tribunal referred to Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal (469 ITR 46, SC) where Revenue conceded that for AY 2015-16 all notices issued after 01.04.2021 had to be dropped, as they were barred by limitation even after considering TOLA relaxations. Delhi High Court in Pratishta Garg (W.P. 16878/2024) & Neera Gupta (W.P. 17352/2024) also quashed similar notices. ITAT Pune in Vishnu Subhash Agarwal (ITA 2881/PUN/2024) had already followed this principle.
Applying the same, Tribunal held that since the impugned notice u/s 148 was issued on 26.07.2022 (after 01.04.2021), it was time-barred & void ab initio. Consequently, reassessment order also stood quashed.
Reopening for AY 2015-16 through notice issued after 01.04.2021 unsustainable – reassessment proceedings & order quashed. Appeal allowed
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT PUNE
This is an Appeal filed by the Assessee against the Order of the Commissioner of Income tax (appeal) (NFAC) under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for A.Y.2015-16 dated 26/09/2024 emanating from Assessment Order u/s.147 r.w.s.144B dated 26/05/2023.
