Late Shri Jitendra Nagar Vs ITO (ITAT Jaipur)
The Jaipur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Late Shri Jitendra Nagar v. ITO (Order dated 01.10.2025) allowed the assessee’s appeal and quashed the reassessment proceedings initiated under Sections 147 and 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Tribunal held that the reassessment notice issued by the Assessing Officer (AO) was invalid due to the absence of proper sanction from the “specified authority” as mandated under Section 151 of the Act, as amended under the new regime effective from 1 April 2021.
Background and Legal Issue
The primary legal issues raised by the assessee were:
(i) whether the ex-parte assessment order passed under Section 147 read with Section 144B was valid; and
(ii) whether the notice issued under Section 148 was without proper sanction from the competent authority as required under Section 151, rendering the reassessment proceedings void ab initio.
The Tribunal noted that both issues were interconnected and hence adjudicated them together, focusing primarily on the question of validity of sanction for issuance of notice under Section 148.
Legal Framework under Section 151 (Post-2021 Regime)
Section 151 of the Income Tax Act, as substituted by the Finance Act, 2021, prescribes the hierarchy of approving authorities for reassessment proceedings:
