Kalawati Enterprises Pvt. Ltd Vs DCIT/NFAC (ITAT Patna)
NFAC Lacked Jurisdiction Before 29-03-2022 – ITAT Patna Quashes Reassessment Order Passed on 24-03-2022
The Patna Bench of the ITAT allowed the assessee’s appeal for AY 2013-14 and quashed the reassessment order passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC), holding that the order was without jurisdiction, since the statutory notification enabling NFAC to conduct reassessments had come into force only from 29-03-2022, whereas the impugned assessment order was passed earlier on 24-03-2022.
The reassessment had been framed u/s 147 r.w.s. 144B by NFAC. The assessee contended that although section 151A was inserted earlier, the scheme for faceless reassessment became operative only upon CBDT Notification dated 29-03-2022, and therefore NFAC had no authority to issue notices or pass assessment orders before that date.
The Tribunal noted that identical issues had already been decided by coordinate benches in Md. Mahimud SK (ITAT Kolkata), Nand Kumar Choudhury (ITAT Cuttack) and Nabiul Industrial Metal Pvt. Ltd., wherein reassessment orders passed by NFAC prior to 29-03-2022 were held void ab initio.
Applying these precedents, the ITAT held that:
- The assessment order dated 24-03-2022 was passed before the faceless reassessment scheme was notified.
- NFAC therefore lacked inherent jurisdiction to conduct the proceedings or pass the order.
- Jurisdictional defect goes to the root and renders the entire assessment non est in law.
Accordingly, the ITAT quashed the reassessment order in toto without going into merits, and the appeal was allowed in full.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT PATNA
