Nandita Anilkant Mehta Vs ITO (Karnataka High Court)
Section 148 notice struck down as beyond Sec.151-A scope- Reassessment proceedings invalid pending SC verdict — liberty to Revenue kept open
Karnataka High Court quashed the reassessment notice issued u/s 148 dated 30.03.2024 for AY 2020-21, along with the approval u/s 151, assessment order u/s 147 r.w.s. 144B, penalty order u/s 270A, & consequential demand notice u/s 156.
Petitioner contended that the reopening was bad in law since the notice was issued by the jurisdictional AO outside the scope of Section 151-A, & relied on the coordinate Bench ruling in Ramachandra Reddy Ravi Kumar Vs DCIT (W.P. No. 17352/2022, dated 28.08.2025), where identical reassessment notices were quashed.
Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar held that the present case is directly covered by the said precedent & accordingly allowed the petition, quashing all impugned notices & orders. However, liberty was reserved to the Revenue to seek revival of the petition if the Supreme Court ultimately decides the issue in favour of the Department in pending cases.
Thus, the reassessment, penalty & demand proceedings were annulled, with all questions kept open for reconsideration depending on the Apex Court’s verdict.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF KARNATAKA HIGH COURT
