Tarun Goel Vs ITO (Delhi High Court)
Conclusion: Revenue authorities were restrained from continuing with reassessment till further orders with respect to notices issued on or after 1-4-2021 without following the procedure prescribed under section 148A in 79 cases.
Held: Assessee stated that the notices under section 148 were invalid in the eyes of law and void from inception as they were issued without following the process of issuance of prior notice under section 148A. He submitted that the impugned notices were invalid as they had been issued under the pre-amended provisions of the Act, which were no longer in force on the date of the impugned notices. He further stated that the respective officer could not indirectly extend the operation of the old provisions of the Act beyond 31 st March, 2021 in the guise of a clarification under delegated legislation. Officer stated that the time limit for issuing the notices under Section 148 stood expired and, therefore, any action under Section 148 would have been time barred by virtue of the proviso to Section 149(1). They submitted that by virtue of introduction of Section 3(1) of the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020, the time limit for taking action under Section 148 had been extended till 30th June, 2021. Consequently, according to them, the impugned notifications only provide that as the time limit for issuing notice under Section 148A had been extended by deemed fiction, the procedure to be followed till 30th mentioned under the Act. It was held that the Court was of the prima facie view that the impugned notification was contrary to settled principle of statutory interpretation, namely, that any action taken post the amendment of a procedural section would have to abide by the new procedures stipulated in the amended Act. Till further orders revenue authorities restrained from continuing with reassessment proceedings, in any manner, pursuant to impugned notices.
Comments are closed.