A Division Bench of Delhi High Court set aside the reassessment order passed under Section 148A(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on grounds of misinformation regarding the Permanent Account Number (PAN) was provided to the Assessing Officer (AO) and the same triggers for the reassessment proceedings.
The bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Girish Kathpalia allowed the AO to take the next steps in law, from the stage of the notice dated 31.03.2023 issued under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, after providing the relevant material/information to the petitioner with regard to the subject immovable property.
The petitioner MS Raj Jain filed the writ petition concerning the assessment year 2016-17. The principal grievance of the petitioner is that the reassessment proceedings have been triggered against her based on a complete misinformation.
The allegation levelled against the petitioner is that she sold the subject immovable property, which is located in Mumbai. However, according to the petitioner’s submissions she doesn’t possess such a property.
The Counsel for the petitioner says that the source of the misinformation is embedded in the old Permanent Account Number (PAN) allocated to the petitioner, which has been in disuse since 1999. Also a new PAN was allocated to the petitioner.
The bench observed the records and it showed that the old PAN allocated to the petitioner is AAHPJ2938F, while the new PAN allocated to the petitioner is ABUPJ6113A.
The counsel of the petitioner asserted that she is not the owner of any immovable property located in Mumbai.
The High Court noted that “Prima facie, it appears that the reassessment qua the petitioner was triggered because of misinformation that was provided to the Assessing Officer (AO). Thus, whether or not the transaction concerning the subject immovable property is related to the petitioner, would require closer examination by the AO.”
Accordingly, the reassessment order was set aside and so as the impugned show cause issued under 148 of the Income Tax Act.
It was further mentioned that if the petitioner provides the necessary material or information, they will be granted an opportunity to submit a response. Sufficient time will be provided for this purpose.
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