The Decision Of The Supreme Court In Union Of India v. The Assessment Proceedings Were Conducted In Accordance With Theprocedure Prescribed Under Section 144B Of The Act And The Sameculminated In An Assessment Order

$~40 *IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI+W.P.(C) 7610/2023PUSHPA DEVI.....PetitionerThrough:Mr. Rohit Jain and Mr. SamarthChaudhari, Advs.VersusINCOME TAX OFFICER & ORS......RespondentsThrough:Mr. Vipul Agrawal & Ms. SakshiShairwal, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIBHU BAKHRUHON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIAO R D E R22.04.2025 % 1.The petitioner has filed the present petition, inter alia, impugning anotice dated 28.05.2021 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act,1961 [the Act] and further proceedings relating to the said notice in respectof assessment year 2015-16. 2.The petitioner is an individual and claims to derive his income underthe head “Income from Salaries”. The petitioner filed its return of incomefor the AY 2015-16, on 17.10.2022, declaring his income from salary as‘Nil’. 3.The Assessing Officer issued a notice dated 28.05.2021 underSection 148 of the Act seeking to reopen the assessment for AY 2015-16.Although the said notice was issued after 31.03.2021, the procedure asprescribed under Section 148A of the Act was not followed as the noticewas premised on the provisions relating to reassessment as were in forceprior to 31.03.2021. 4.Thereafter, by a communication dated 20.05.2022, the AO referred to This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 30/04/2025 at 16:06:43 the decision of the Supreme Court in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal:(2022) 444 ITR 1 (SC) and forwarded certain information, which accordingto the AO, suggested that the petitioner’s income had escaped assessment.The said communication also mentioned that in terms of the aforementioneddecision in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal (supra), the impugned noticeissued under Section 148 of the Act was held to be a notice under Section148A(b) of the Act. 5.Thereafter, the AO passed an order under Section 148A(d) of the Actholding that it was a fit case for issuance of a notice under Section 148 ofthe Act in respect of AY 2015-16. The said order was forwarded to theAssessee along with a notice dated 13.07.2022 issued under Section 148 ofthe Act in respect of AY 2015-16. 6.The assessment proceedings were conducted in accordance with theprocedure prescribed under Section 144B of the Act and the sameculminated in an assessment order dated 19.05.2023. 7.The Assessee contends that the proceedings initiated pursuant to theimpugned notice dated 28.05.2021, including the assessment order, arerequired to be set aside in view of the concession made by the Revenuebefore the Supreme Court in Union of India and Ors. v. Rajeev Bansal:2024 INSC 754. 8.It is relevant to refer to paragraph 19(e) and 19(f) from the decision ofthe Supreme Court in Union of India and Ors. v. Rajeev Bansal (supra),which sets out the concession as made on behalf of the Revenue: “The Finance Act 2021 substituted the old regime for re-assessment with a new regime. The first proviso to Section 149does not expressly bar the application of TOLA. Section 3 ofTOLA applies to the entire Income-tax Act, including Sections 149 This is a digitally signed order.The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 30/04/2025 at 16:06:43 and 151 of the new regime. Once the first proviso to Section149(1)(b) is read with TOLA, then all the notices issued between 1April 2021 and 30 June 2021 pertaining to assessment years 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 will be within theperiod of limitation as explained in the tabulation below: f. The Revenue concedes that for the assessment year 2015-16, allnotices issued on or after 1 April 2021 will have to be dropped asthey will not fall for completion during the period prescribed underTOLA;” This is a digitally signed order.The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 30/04/2025 at 16:06:43 and 151 of the new regime. Once the first proviso to Section149(1)(b) is read with TOLA, then all the notices issued between 1April 2021 and 30 June 2021 pertaining to assessment years 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 will be within theperiod of limitation as explained in the tabulation below: f. The Revenue concedes that for the assessment year 2015-16, allnotices issued on or after 1 April 2021 will have to be dropped asthey will not fall for completion during the period prescribed underTOLA;” 9.In view of the above concession, the impugned notice and theproceedings relating thereto are required to be set aside. We may also notethe decision of the Supreme Court in Deepak Steel and Power Ltd. v.Central Board of Direct Taxes and Ors.: Civil Appeal No.5177/2025,decided on 02.04.2025. The said appeal arose from orders passed by theHon’ble High Court of Orissa and Cuttack declining to entertain batch ofpetitions filed by the Assessees. The attention of the Supreme Court wasdrawn to the concession made on behalf of the Revenue in Union of India v.Rajeev Bansal (supra) and noting the same, the Supreme Court allowed theappeals. The relevant extract of the said decision is set out below: “4. The learned counsel appearing for the revenue with his usualfairness invited the attention of this Court to a three judge benchdecision of this Court in Union of India and Ors. v. Rajeev Bansal, This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 30/04/2025 at 16:06:43 reported in 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2693, more particularly,paragraph 19(f) which reads thus:- “19. (f) The Revenue concedes that for the assessmentyear 2015-2016, all notices issued on or after April 1,2021 will have to be dropped as they will not fall forcompletion during the period prescribed under theTaxation and other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment ofCertain Provisions) Act, 2020.” 5. As the revenue made a concession in the aforesaid decision thatis for the assessment year 2015-2016, all notices issued on or after1st April, 2021 will have to be dropped as they would not fall forcompletion during the period prescribed under the taxation andother laws (Relaxation and Amendment of certain Provisions Act,2020). Nothing further is required to be adjudicated in this matteras the notices so far as the present litigation is concerned is dated25.6.2021. 6. In view of the aforesaid, in such circumstances referred to abovethe original writ petition nos.2446 of 2023, 2543 of 2023 and 2544of 2023 respectively filed before the High Court of Orissa atcuttack stands allowed. 7. The impugned notice therein stands quashed and set aside.” 10.In view of the Revenue’s concession as noted above, we do notconsider it apposite to examine other issues raised in the present petition.The impugned notice and all proceedings initiated pursuant thereto includingthe re-assessment order dated 19.05.2023 passed under Section 147 readwith and 144B of the Act, are set aside. 11.The petition is allowed in the aforesaid terms. VIBHU BAKHRU, J APRIL 22, 2025‘gsr’ TEJAS KARIA, J Click here to check corrigendum, if any This is a digitally signed order.The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 30/04/2025 at 16:06:43