ITO Vs Deepak Goyal (ITAT Chandigarh)
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal dismissed the Revenue’s appeal for AY 2018-19 and upheld the order of the CIT(A) quashing the reassessment proceedings.
The case was reopened by issuing a notice under section 148 dated 06.04.2022 by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer. The assessee challenged the validity of the notice, contending that under the CBDT Notification dated 29.03.2022 and the faceless assessment regime, such notice ought to have been issued by a faceless Assessing Officer. The Punjab & Haryana High Court, while entertaining the writ, directed the CIT(A) to decide the issue in line with its binding judgment in Jatinder Singh Bhangu.
Following the High Court’s ruling, the CIT(A) held that the notice under section 148 was issued by an incompetent authority and therefore quashed the notice as well as the consequential assessment framed under section 147 read with section 144B.
The Tribunal found that the CIT(A) had merely followed a binding jurisdictional High Court precedent and that the legal issue stood conclusively settled in favour of the assessee. Finding no infirmity in the order, the ITAT refused to interfere.
Accordingly, the Revenue’s appeal was dismissed, and the reassessment remained annulled.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT CHANDIGARH
