CPT Elecy System Employees Coop T & C Society Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
JAO-Issued 148 After 29-03-2022 Is Void — Faceless Mandate Prevails; Reassessment Quashed
Chennai ITAT quashed the reassessment of CPT Elecy System Employees Coop T & C Society for AY 2020-21, holding that the notice u/s 148 dated 30-03-2024 issued by the Jurisdictional AO (JAO) was invalid ab initio, having been issued in breach of the e-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme, 2022 notified by CBDT on 29-03-2022.
The Tribunal noted that post-notification, issuance of notice u/s 148 must mandatorily be through faceless mode by NFAC/FAO, in terms of sections 148, 151A & 144B. Since the impugned notice was admittedly issued by the local ITO, Ward-1, Kancheepuram (JAO), the very assumption of jurisdiction failed, rendering all consequential proceedings unsustainable.
ITAT relied on a long line of binding precedents including Hexaware Technologies Ltd. (Bom HC), Kankanala Ravindra Reddy (Telangana HC), Sri Venkatramana Reddy Patloola, Deepanjan Roy (SLP dismissed by SC), and the Division Bench ruling of Madras HC in TVS Credit Services Ltd., which conclusively held that JAO cannot bypass the faceless regime and that such defect is jurisdictional, not curable.
While noting that SLP against Hexaware is pending, the Tribunal emphasised that there is no stay, and therefore the law declared by the High Courts continues to bind. Accordingly, the 148 notice and all consequential reassessment orders were set aside, with liberty reserved to Revenue to seek revival if the Supreme Court ultimately takes a contrary view.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT CHENNAI
