ACIT & Anr. Vs Gopal Prasad Gupta (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered a Special Leave Petition filed by the Revenue challenging a High Court judgment that had quashed reassessment proceedings initiated under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Supreme Court noted a gross delay of 560 days in filing the Special Leave Petition, which was not satisfactorily explained. It further held that even on merits, no interference with the High Court’s order was warranted. Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition was dismissed on the grounds of both delay and lack of merit, thereby affirming the High Court’s ruling.
Read HC Judgment in this case: Section 153C Prevails Over Section 148 in Third-Party Search Cases: Rajasthan HC
Before the High Court, multiple writ petitions involving common facts and questions of law were decided together. The petitions challenged notices issued under Section 148 of the Act and the rejection of objections against such notices. The facts revealed that for the relevant assessment year, the assessee had filed a return declaring income. Subsequently, a notice under Section 148 was issued based on material seized during a search conducted on a third party group. Reasons for reopening were supplied, objections were filed by the assessee, and the objections were rejected by the Assessing Officer.
