Anup Kumar Aggarwal Vs ACIT (Central) (ITAT Chandigarh)
The assessee appealed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-3, Gurgaon, dated 31 July 2025, for Assessment Year 2020-21. The original assessment had been completed under Section 147 on 12 March 2025 following a search conducted on the assessee-group on 4 November 2022. After the search, the case was centralized under Section 127 on 28 July 2023. A notice under Section 148 was subsequently issued on 29 December 2023 by the DCIT/ACIT (Central), Shimla, who was the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO). The assessee responded by filing a return of income on 15 January 2024 declaring ₹20.11 lakh. Based on search findings, the Assessing Officer added ₹78,260 as unexplained jewellery under Section 69A, which the CIT(A) confirmed.
In the appeal before the Tribunal, the assessee raised legal objections and arguments on merits, which the Department opposed. The primary legal ground challenged the validity of the reopening, contending that the Section 148 notice was invalid because it was issued by the JAO instead of the Faceless Assessing Officer (FAO), contrary to Section 151A and CBDT Notification No. 18/2022 dated 29 March 2022. The assessee submitted that, as per the decisions of the jurisdictional High Court, a notice issued by the JAO rather than the FAO vitiates the entire reassessment. The Departmental Representative did not dispute that the notice was issued by the JAO but argued that the issue was pending before the Supreme Court.
