ITO Vs Shiva Kumar Thota (ITAT Hyderabad)
Without Filing CO, Assessee Entitled to Challenge Jurisdiction — Reassessment Fails for Section 151(ii) Lapse
The Tribunal held that the assessee could challenge the assumption of jurisdiction in reassessment proceedings even without filing a cross-objection, as the issue involved a pure question of law going to the root of the matter. In support, reliance was placed on Sanjay Sawhney v. Pr. CIT (Del HC), Peter Vaz v. CIT (Bom HC), CIT v. Dehati Co-operative Marketing-cum-Processing Society (P&H HC) and Dahod Sahakari Kharid Vechan Sangh Ltd. (Guj HC).
On merits, the Tribunal noted that the notice under section 148 dated 29.07.2022 was issued beyond three years from the end of the relevant assessment year. As per the amended law, prior approval under section 151(ii) was mandatorily required from the Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner, whereas approval had been obtained only from the Principal Commissioner, an incompetent authority. Relying on Union of India v. Ashish Agrawal (SC) and the jurisdictional High Court decision in Deloitte Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. (Telangana HC), the Tribunal held that such defect was jurisdictional and incurable, rendering the reassessment void ab initio and the Revenue’s appeal academic.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT HYDERABAD
