The Ahmedabad Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has quashed reassessment order passed without issuing notice under Section 148 of Income Tax Act, 1961.
The assessee Raghuraj Laminates Pvt. Ltd. filed the appeal against the order of Commissioner Of Income Tax (Appeal) challenging the notice issued under section 148 of the Income Tax Act.
The facts leading to filing the appeal was that, the assessee is filing its return of income on the address of M/s Raghuraj Laminates Private Limited. The assessment was completed, for assessment year 2008-09 by the ACIT Muzaffarnagar and for AY. 2012-13 has been completed by the ITO, Muzaffarnagar .
The assessee company has also moved an application for the request of migration of PAN. Number to DCIT/ ACIT, Circle -2, Muzaffarnagar and also informed the DCIT, Circle Hardwar, during the assessment proceeding for Assessment Year 2012-13, that the jurisdiction of the assessee company.
Thereafter, the DCIT, Circle-3(1), Hardwar has transferred the case to Income Tax Office , Ward- 2(2), Muzaffarnagar without any order passed under Section 127 of the Income Tax Act, which itself proved that the assessee is always under the jurisdiction of the ACIT, Circle-2, Muzaffarnagar and regularly assessed under the ACIT, Circle-2, Muzaffarnagar, therefore, the notice issued under Section 148 of Income Tax Act by the DCIT, Circle-3(1), Haridwar is beyond the his jurisdiction.
Thus, the assessee alleged that notice issued under Section 148 Income Tax Act and initiation of proceedings under Section 147 Income Tax Act was illegal, bad in law and without jurisdiction.
Before the bench Ankit Gupta, the counsel for the assessee submitted that, no valid notice has been issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer before passing or making reassessment order.
In such a situation the proceedings of reassessment pursuant to such notice issued by the Assessing Officer not having jurisdiction over the assessee are void ab initio and reassessment order passed under such proceedings has to be held as invalid.
Om Parkash, counsel for the revenue submitted that reassessment order passed by ITO Ward 2(2) Muzaffarnagar cannot be held as invalid. Assessee himself informed the Assessing Officer that his jurisdictional Assessing Officer is Income Tax OfficeWard 2(2) Muzaffarnagar and immediately after receiving said letter he transferred the case to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer who passed the reassessment order therefore no allegation regarding validity of assuming of jurisdiction for passing reassessment order could be made.
It was observed by the tribunal that the Assessing Officer who issued notice under Section 148 of the Act was not having jurisdiction over the assessee and the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over the assessee that is Income Tax Officer Ward 2(2) Muzaffarnagar did not issue any notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act.
Therefore, a single member bench of Chandra Mohan Garg (Judicial Member), after considering the submissions of the both parties observed that the assessment order under section 143(3)/147 of the Income Tax Act is not validly sustainable in the absence of a valid notice under section 148 of the Income Tax Act by the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over the assessee. Therefore the same was deserved to be quashed being bad in law.
Thus, the bench allowed the appeal filed by the assessee.
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