HC Quashed Reassessment Notice Issued by JAO Without Conducting Faceless Assessment as Envisaged u/s 144B

Case Details: Jasjit Singh v. Union of India - [2024] 165 taxmann.com 114 (Punjab & Haryana)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Sanjeev Prakash Sharma & Sanjay Vashisth, JJ.
• Sanjay Bansal, Ms Radhika Suri, Akshay Bhan, Sr. Advs., Gurdeep Singh, Abhinav Narang, Shantanu Bansal, Yugank Goyal, Sandeep Goyal, Nikhil Goyal, Rana Gurtej Singh, Vaibhav Sharma, Adarsh Dubey, Sandeep Wadhawan, Abhishak Sharma, Vishal Gupta, Alok Mittal, Umang Goyal, Tarun Chanana, Salil Kapoor, Amrinder Singh, Sholab Arora, B.M. Monga, Chetan Jain, Aditya Dassuar, Kamal Kumar Gupta, Nitin Bhasin, Rohit Kaura, Rajiv Sharma, Puneet Kansal, Sunil K. Mukhi, Prince Goyal, Viren Sharma, Ms. Salina Chalana, Manpreet Kanda, Rohit Sud, Ms. Kuljeet Kaur, Sachin Bhardwaj, Aman Garg, Kapish Chawla, Divya Suri, Peyush Pruthi, Tejinder Joshi, Siddhant Kohli, Kushagra Mahajan, Amit Kumar Gupta, Prateek, & Varun Sharma Advs. for the Petitioner.
• Saurabh Kapoor, Amanpreet (A.P.) Singh, Sourabh Kapoor, Sr. Standing Counsels, Ms Urvashi Dhugga, Sr. Panel Counsel for Income Tax Department, Yogesh Putney, Sr. Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department, Ms Gauri Neo Rampal, Sr. Standing Counsel, Ms Pridhi Sandhu, Jr. Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department, Ranvijay Singh, Sr. Standing Counsel, Vaibhav Gupta, & Ashutosh, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

Assessee raises a common question of law through a series of writ petitions: whether the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) is empowered to issue a notice under section 148 after the new regime of faceless assessment has been brought into force by the amendment made under section 148.

In the instant case, the JAO issued a reassessment notice under section 148. The assessee challenged the validity of reopening the assessment on the ground that the same should have been conducted by the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC) and not by the Assessing Officer.

The revenue claimed that, as per Office Memorandum 20-02-2023 and CBDT circular dated 19-01-2024, high-risk cases were to be examined by JAO to issue a reopening notice.

High Court Held

The High Court held that the power of transfer to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer is available, but it has to be exercised only in a particular case considering the facts and circumstances therein and not by way of general order as passed vide letter dated 19.01.2024.

Thus, the authorities cannot be allowed to usurp the legal provisions to their satisfaction and convenience, causing hardship to the assessees and confusion in the minds of the taxpayers.

In the opinion of the Court, instructions and circulars can be issued only to supplement the statutory provisions and implement them. Therefore, the notices issued by the JAO under Section 148 and the proceedings initiated thereafter without conducting the faceless assessment as envisaged under Section 144B were found to be contrary to the provisions of the Act.