ACIT Vs Pramod Jain (Supreme Court of India)
The proceedings arose from writ petitions challenging notices issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and orders dated 05.03.2022 rejecting objections to those notices. The lead case concerned Assessment Year 2014-15, where the petitioner had filed a return declaring income of Rs.18,76,890/-. A notice under Section 148 was issued on 30.03.2021, the petitioner subsequently filed a return, sought the recorded reasons, and objected to the initiation of reassessment proceedings. The objections were rejected, leading to the writ petitions.
Before the Rajasthan High Court, the petitioners contended that the Section 148 notices were founded entirely on material seized during a search conducted on the Manihar Group. According to them, where the proceedings were based on seized material relating to a person other than the searched person, the Department was required to invoke Section 153C, which is the special provision applicable to such cases, and not Section 148. The respondents argued that Sections 153A to 153D did not exclude the operation of Section 148, that reassessment under Section 148 could also be initiated in search-related matters, and that acceptance of the petitioners’ contention would render Section 148 redundant. They further submitted that Section 153C was intended for block periods and that Section 148 could be invoked where the information did not extend to all six years or where material other than seized material required consideration.
