Income Tax Faceless Assessment: SC stays HC’s observations declaring faceless assessment as non-est

Supreme Court (SC) on Monday, made a stay on High Court (HC) Order that has set aside the assessment order was sub-Section (9) of Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, (for short “the Act’) which, at the relevant time, provided that any assessment made shall be non-est, if such assessment is not made in accordance with the procedure laid down under the said Section. It is submitted that, as such, sub-section (9) of Section 144B of the Act has been deleted with effect from 01.04.2021 and the provision to declare the assessment as non-est if such assessment is not made in accordance with the procedure laid down under Section 144B of the Act has been deleted.

It was further submitted that therefore the aforesaid ground shall not be made available to the assessee. It is submitted that therefore the assessment order would continue and the assessee, if aggrieved, was required to prefer an Appeal before the CIT(A). It is further submitted that even the observations made by the High Court in the impugned order made, in para 9, are also not warranted, in the facts and circumstances of the case, more particularly, when the entire procedure before the assessment was followed and thereafter even the legislature also deleted the provision of sub-section (9) of Section 144B of the Act retrospectively with effect from 01.04.2021.

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