The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chandigarh Bench ruled that the Non-receipt of Reassessment Notice is equivalent to non-service.
The assessee, Smt. Simar Kaur challenged the order on the ground that the order for want of jurisdiction deserves to be quashed as notice to the assessee was never issued by the Assessing Officer. This challenge, it was submitted, remains un-assailed on record. Jurisdiction was also challenged on the grounds of being arbitrary as it was exercised mechanically. It was submitted this fact was evident from the record itself as no effort, as a matter of record was made to see the actual proportionate share of the assessee’s contribution and the reasons recorded would show that entire hundred percent investment in the property was wrongly considered to have been made by the assessee. This mistake and incorrect fact recorded in the reasons recorded, it was submitted, had been corrected by the Assessing Officer himself at the assessment stage as ultimately addition was made to the proportion relatable to the assessee’s share.
The coram of Judicial Member Diva Singh the reopening was mechanical. However, in the facts of the present case, when the Sale Deed is taken into consideration, it is clearly evident that it spells out the fact that only part consideration was moving from the assessee and thus if this bare document itself had been seen before the formation of the belief by the A.O. then while recording the reasons the AO would not have recorded the entire consideration as assessee’s contribution and would have noticed that there were other contributors also. The fact that this document was properly seen at the assessment stage as ultimately instead of Rs. 63.51 lakhs was limited to Rs.28,03,753/- i.e. the assessee’s share.
“An authority vested with the onerous powers of reopening u/s 147 and granting of approval is expected to exercise its power consciously, carefully, and with full awareness. The public at large cannot be put to the mercies of careless, casual, arbitrary, or whimsical exercise of power. The order deserves to be quashed on this count itself. Ordered accordingly,” the ITAT while allowing the appeal of the assessee said.
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