Usha Bansal Vs ITO (ITAT Chandigarh)
Reassessment Quashed for AY 2019-20: Section 148A(d) Order Passed by Jurisdictional AO Held Without Authority
The Chandigarh Bench (SMC) of the ITAT quashed the reassessment proceedings for AY 2019-20 after accepting an additional legal ground raised by the assessee. The Tribunal held that the order passed under section 148A(d) on 31.03.2023 was invalid since it was issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer instead of the Faceless Assessing Officer, as mandatorily required under the CBDT Notification dated 29.03.2022.
The Tribunal permitted the assessee to raise this additional ground, treating it as a pure question of law, in line with the Supreme Court ruling in NTPC Ltd. v. CIT. The assessee relied upon binding judgments of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, including Gurprince Singh Mander v. ITO, wherein reassessment notices issued by jurisdictional AOs post-notification were held to be without jurisdiction.
The Revenue could not controvert the legal position. Relying on its own earlier coordinate bench decisions and consistent High Court jurisprudence, the Tribunal held that the reassessment proceedings were void ab initio. Consequently, the notice issued and the entire reassessment order were quashed, and the assessee’s appeal was allowed in full.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT CHANDIGARH
The assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal against the order of the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [in short ‘the CIT (A)’] dated 18.09.2025 passed in assessment year 2019-20.
