HC Rules on Section 148 Reassessment; Held Dispatch Date Decides Validity

The petitioner filed his income return for the academic year 2013-14 on August 8, 2013. A digitally signed notice under Section 148 was dated March 31, 2021, but served only on April 1, 2021. The petitioner complied, but no order followed. Subsequently, fresh notices were issued under Sections 148A(b), 148A(d), and 148 in 2022. The petitioner challenged the said notices, arguing that the 2021 reassessment couldn’t be revived as the time limit under Section 149(1) had lapsed. Being aggrieved by the issuance of these notices and the consequent proceedings, the petitioner approached the High Court by way of the present writ petition.

Main Issue: Whether the original notice dated 31.03.2021 should control the timeline or whether the reassessment was barred by limitation under Section 149(1). The main query was whether the notice was “issued” on April 1, 2021, when it was sent, or on March 31, 2021, when it was digitally signed.

Court’s Decision: The Court determined that although the notice was dated 31.03.2021, it was actually sent and delivered on April 1, 2021. Based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal and Suman Jeet Agarwal v. ITO, the Court determined that the date of dispatch is the date of issue. The notice issued in 2021 was therefore considered to fall under the new reassessment scheme (Section 148A).

The HC observed that the Revenue had complied with the revised procedure provided under the pertinent and important provision through the issuance of a notice under Section 148A(b) and by the issuance of a reasoned order under Section 148A(d). Therefore, the petition was rejected, deeming it to be without merit.