Reassessment Notice Quashed as Issued Beyond Surviving Limitation Period

The petitioner challenged a reassessment notice issued under Section 148 dated 29.06.2022 for AY 2017–18, contending that it was time-barred. Initially, a notice had been issued on 11.06.2021 under the old regime by taking benefit of the extended timelines under TOLA.

Following the Supreme Court ruling in Ashish Agarwal, such notices were deemed to be issued under Section 148A(b). The Assessing Officer thereafter supplied information on 18.05.2022, but eventually passed an order under Section 148A(d) on 28.06.2022 and issued a fresh notice under Section 148 on 29.06.2022.

Issue Raised: Whether reassessment notice issued under Section 148 on 29.06.2022 was valid when tested against the “surviving time” principle laid down by the Supreme Court.

HC Held: The High Court held that the reassessment notice was clearly time-barred. Applying the law laid down in Ashish Agarwal and Rajeev Bansal, the Court observed that the validity of such notices depends on whether they are issued within the “surviving time” available after factoring in TOLA relaxations.

On facts, the Court noted that the last permissible date for issuing notice, after computing the surviving limitation period, was 21.06.2022. Since the impugned notice was issued on 29.06.2022, it fell outside the permissible window. Accordingly, the notice under Section 148, the order under Section 148A(d), and all consequential proceedings were quashed.

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