PAYAL KURZ,MAHARASTRA vs. INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT, MAHARSTRA

Therefore, such notice, along with the assessment order dated 28.05.2024 passed under section 147 read with section 144C(3) of the Act pursuant to the said notice, is liable to be quashed in view of the concession made by the Revenue before the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal [2024] 167 taxmann.com 70 (SC), wherein the Revenue, through the learned Additional Solicitor General (ASG), conceded that, in respect of Assessment Year 2015–16, all notices issued on or after 01.04.2021 will have to be dropped, as they did not fall within the period of limitation available under TOLA.

We further note that the aforesaid concession made by the Revenue has duly been recorded in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

We further observe that the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal (supra) was subsequently followed in Deepak Steel v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax {(2025) 174 taxmann.com 144 (SC)}, wherein the Hon'ble Apex Court held as under:

We further observe that the Hon'ble Jurisdictional Bombay High Court, in Mitra Biswas v. Income Tax Officer, Ward 26(2)(1), Mumbai [Writ Petition (L) No. 3068 of 2026, decided on 03.02.2026], also dealt with an identical issue involving notices dated 28.03.2022 issued under section 148A(b) and 14.04.2022 under section 148 of the Act for Assessment Year 2015-16. The Hon'ble High Court while placing reliance upon the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Rajeev Bansal and Deepak Steel (supra), as well as the judgment of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court in Cherian Nallathu Abraham Annamma v. Income Tax Officer [(2025) 179 taxmann.com 433 (Bom.)], reiterated the settled legal position that, for Assessment Year 2015-16, any notice issued under section 148 of the Act on or after 01.04.2021 is invalid and barred by limitation. Accordingly, the Hon'ble High Court quashed the notice issued under section 148 of the Act as well as all consequential proceedings and orders for Assessment Year 2015-16, by observing and holding as under:

The Hon'ble Jurisdictional High Court in the case of Bhavik Bhupendra Shah v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax & Ors. [Writ Petition No.12482 of 2025, decided on 15.06.2026], recently also dealt with identical notice under section 148 of the Act and held that notice u/s 148 of the Act having been issued on or after 01.04.2021, if pertains to the A.Y. 2015-16, then the notice is liable to be declared time- barred and no further adjudicatory exercise is required.

Admittedly, in the present case, notice under section 148 was issued on 21.12.2022 for the assessment year 2015-16, beyond the period available under TOLA and hit by concession given by the Revenue before the Hon'ble Apex Court, in the above case. Thus, the notice 21.12.2022 along with assessment order dated 28.05/2024 passed in pursuance thereto, is quashed.

Resultantly, the remaining grounds raised by the Assessee on merits become academic, therefore, we deem it appropriate not to adjudicate the same, as such adjudication would be a futile exercise.