SEL MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD. vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, CENTRAL CIRCLE-3, LUDHIANA

CWP-6045-2023

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

204

CWP-6045-2023

Date of Decision : 06.03.2026

SEL MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.

…. PETITIONER V/S

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, CENTRAL CIRCLE-3, LUDHIANA

…. RESPONDENT

CORAM : HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE LISA GILL

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAMESH CHANDER DIMRI Present : Mr.Abhinav Narang, Advocate for the petitioner.

Ms. Pridhi Sandhu, Advocate

for the respondent.

**** LISA GILL, J. (Oral)

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CWP-6045-2023

-3- It was held by Hon’ble the Supreme Court in Rajeev Bansal’s case (supra) as under:- “111. The clock started ticking for the Revenue only after it received the response of the assesses to the show causes notices. After the receipt of the reply, the assessing officer had to perform the following responsibilities: (i) consider the reply of the assessee under Section 149A(c); (ii) take a decision under Section 149A(d) based on the available material and the reply of the assessee; and (iii) issue a notice under Section 148 if it was a fit case for reassessment. Once the clock started ticking, the assessing officer was required to complete these procedures within the surviving time limit. The surviving time limit, as prescribed under the Income Tax Act read with TOLA, was available to the assessing officers to issue the reassessment notices under Section 148 of the new regime.

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the new regime. Thus, in this illustration, the time limit for issuance of a notice under Section 148 of the new regime will end on 18 August 2022. 113. In Ashish Agarwal (supra), this Court allowed the assesses to avail all the defences, including the defence of expiry of the time limit specified under Section 149(1). In the instant appeals, the reassessment notices pertain to the assessment years 2013- 2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. To assume juri iction to issue notices under Section 148 with respect to the relevant assessment years, an assessing officer has to: (i) issue the notices within the period prescribed under Section 149(1) of the new regime read with TOLA; and (ii) obtain the previous approval of the authority specified under Section 151. A notice issued without complying with the preconditions is invalid as it affects the juri iction of the assessing officer. Therefore, the reassessment notices issued under Section 148 of the new regime, which are in pursuance of the deemed notices, ought to be issued within the time limit surviving under the Income Tax Act read with TOLA. A reassessment notice issued beyond the surviving time limit will be time barred.

G. Conclusions

a. After 1 April 2021, the Income Tax Act has to be read along with the substituted provisions;

b. TOLA will continue to apply to the Income Tax Act after 1 April 2021 if any action or proceeding specified ANJU GOEL 2026.03.11 16:00 integrity of this document Chandigarh

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under the substituted provisions of the Income Tax Act falls for completion between 20 March 2020 and 31 March 2021; c. Section 3(1) of TOLA overrides section 149 of the Income Tax Act only to the extent of relaxing the time limit for issuance of a reassessment notice under Section 148;

d. TOLA will extend the time limit for the grant of sanction by the authority specified under Section 151. The test to determine whether TOLA will apply to Section 151 of the new regime is this: if the time limit of three years from the end of an assessment year falls between 20 March 2020 and 31 March 2021, then the specified authority under Section 151(i) has extended time till 30 June 2021 to grant approval;

e. In the case of Section 151 of the old regime, the test is: if the time limit of four years from the end of an assessment year falls between 20 March 2020 and 31 March 2021, then the specified authority under Section 151(2) has extended time till 31 March 2021 to grant approval; f. The directions in Ashish Agarwal (supra) will extend to all the ninety thousand reassessment notices issued under the old regime during the period 1 April 2021 and 30 June 2021;

g. The time during which the show cause notices were deemed to be stayed is from the date of issuance of the deemed notice between 1 April 2021 and 30 June 2021 till the supply of relevant information and material by the assessing officers to the assesses in terms of the directions issued by this Court in Ashish Agarwal (supra), and the period of two weeks allowed to the assesses to respond to the show cause notices; and h. The assessing officers were required to issue the reassessment notice under Section 148 of the new regime within the time limit surviving under the Income Tax Act read with TOLA. All notices issued beyond the surviving period are time barred and liable to be set aside.”

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been issued beyond the time limit surviving under IT Act read with TOLA and the matter is covered in favour of petitioner in view of judgment of Hon’ble the Supreme Court in the case of Rajeev Bansal’s case (supra).

(LISA GILL)

JUDGE

(RAMESH CHANDER DIMRI)

JUDGE

Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes/No Whether Reportable

: Yes/No ANJU GOEL 2026.03.11 16:00 integrity of this document Chandigarh