ITO Vs Sreenath Murugesh Adimoolam (ITAT Bangalore)
₹60 Lakh Litigation Limit Ends JAO-vs-FAO Battle: Bangalore ITAT Dismisses Revenue Appeal Against Quashing of Reassessment
Summary: The assessee, Sreenath Murugesh Adimoolam, received salary aggregating to ₹28,59,361 from SAP Labs India Private Limited & Dataformix Technologies Private Limited during AY 2020-21. The salary payments were reflected in Form 26AS, but the assessee did not file his return of income for the relevant year.
Based on information available through the Risk Management Strategy formulated by the CBDT, reassessment proceedings were initiated. After following the procedure prescribed u/s 148A, the jurisdictional AO issued notice u/s 148 on 9 February 2024.
The assessee did not file a return in response to the notice. The AO thereafter passed an assessment order dated 6 February 2025 u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 & 144B, treating the entire salary of ₹28,59,361 as undisclosed income.
The assessee challenged the assessment before the CIT(A). The CIT(A) accepted the jurisdictional objection that the notice u/s 148 had been issued by the Jurisdictional AO instead of the Faceless AO. It held that such issuance was contrary to section 151A & the Faceless Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2022. The notice & consequential reassessment were therefore quashed as void ab initio.
