PRABHJOT SINGH LIKHARI vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX & ORS.

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W.P.(C)/3491/2023HC DelhiDLHC01009593202317 February 2025Bench: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR,HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA4 pages
AI SummaryRemanded

What did the High Court hold?

The Delhi High Court disposed of the writ petition on terms identical to its previous decision in Kanwaljeet Kaur vs. Commissioner of Income Tax (2025 SCC OnLine Del 605). In Kanwaljeet Kaur, the Court had directed the Assessing Officers (AOs) to evaluate individual show-cause notices (SCNs) under Section 148 of the Act, considering specific judgments. These included evaluating the accordal of sanction under Section 151, the authority of the jurisdictional AO, and the applicability of Section 153C in cases emanating from a search. Crucially, for the issue of the surviving period, the AOs were directed to examine each notice under Section 148, guided by the judgments in Rajeev Bansal and Ram Balram. The AOs were mandated to pass reasoned and speaking orders addressing the impact of these judgments on the impugned reassessment notices, determining whether they would survive or be liable for recall. The petitioner was granted the liberty to assail any adverse orders.

What were the facts?

The petitioner, Prabhjot Singh Likhari, challenged the reassessment action for Assessment Year (AY) 2014-15. The core issue revolved around the 'surviving period' for issuing a notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The petitioner provided a summary chart detailing the timeline of events, including the issuance of a notice under Section 148 (old regime) on June 29, 2021, a letter communicating information on May 27, 2022, the petitioner's reply on June 8, 2022, an order under Section 148A on July 26, 2022, and the sanction obtained from the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCCIT) on July 26, 2022. The petitioner argued that the notice issued under the new regime was barred by limitation, citing the decision in Union of India vs. Rajeev Bansal.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the reassessment notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for AY 2014-15 is barred by limitation, considering the 'surviving period' as per the decisions in Union of India vs. Rajeev Bansal and Ram Balram. Assessee's Contentions: The petitioner argued that the notice issued under the new regime was barred by limitation. They relied on a tabular statement calculating the limitation period, which indicated that the notice dated July 26, 2022, was issued beyond the permissible extended period, considering the original notice date (June 29, 2021), the extended period due to TOLA (Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020), and the period of deemed stay to be excluded as per the third proviso to Section 149. Revenue's Contentions: The judgment does not record specific contentions from the revenue regarding the calculation of the surviving period.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 148,Section 148A,Section 149,Section 151,Section 153C

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

$~59 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 3491/2023

PRABHJOT SINGH LIKHARI

.....Petitioner

Through: Mr. Rohit Jain, Mr. Aniket D. Agrawal and Ms. Manisha Sharma, Advs.

versus

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX & ORS. .....Respondents

Through: Mr. Vipul Agrawal, SSC with Mr. Gooraang Ranjan, Advs.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR

O R D E R %

17.02.2025 1. We take note of the challenge which stands raised to the reassessment action for Assessment Year [“AY”] 2014-15 and the solitary question remaining being that of surviving period. 2. Mr. Jain, learned counsel appearing for the writ petitioner, draws our attention to the following tabular statement :-

“SUMMARY CHART

A. Key Facts:

Sl. No. PARTICULARS DATE Relevant Pg./Ann No. 1. Notice issued Section 148 (old regime) 29.06.2021 PP 89/Pdf 95 Annex ‘A’ 2. Letter communicating information pursuant to 27.05.2022 PP 90/Pdf 96 Annex ‘B’ This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:47:53

SC decision in Ashish Agarwal- reply to be 3. Reply filed by Petitioner 08.06.2022 PP 166/Pdf 172Annex ‘H’ 4. Order u/S 148A 26.07.2022 PP 101/Pdf 107 Annex ‘C’ 5. Notic issued u/S 148- Sanction obtained from PCCIT 26.07.2022 PP 108/Pdf 114 Annex ‘D’

B. COMPUTATION OF LIMITATION AS PER DECISION OF UOI VS. RAJEEV BANSAL

Sl. No.

SC PARAS 1. Assessment Year 2014-2015

2.

Period of limitation u/S 149 [3 years or 6 years] 6 years

3.

Original Period of limitation u/S 149 31.03.2021

4.

Extended period of limitation as per IT Act read with TOLA 30.06.2021 Paras 65-69 5. Date of original notice u/S 148-deemed SCN u/S 148A(b) 29.06.2021

6.

Time surviving from the date issuance of deemed SCN till expiry of period as extended by TOLA [from 29.06.2021 till 30.06.2021] 1 days Paras 109-113 7. Extended to 7 days as per fourth proviso to Section 149 7 days

8.

Period of deemed stay to be excluded as per 3rd proviso to Section 149 [Date of Original 148 till date on which reply filed assessee] 29.06.2021 to 08.06.2022 Paras 105-107 9. Period of deemed stay to be excluded as per 3rd proviso to Section 149 [Date of Original 148 till date the time allowed to 29.06.2021 to 10.06.2022

This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:47:53

reply] 10. Last date for issuing notice u/S 148 [i.e., 08.06.2022+7 days] or[i.e., 10.06.2022+7 days] Sanction to be obtained from PCCIT 15.06.2022/ 17.06.2022

11.

Actual date of issuance of notice u/S 148 26.07.2022

12.

Notice u/S 148 issued under new regime is barred by limitation

3.

We note that insofar as the issue of surviving period is concerned, we had while disposing of a batch of writ petitions in Kanwaljeet Kaur vs. Commissioner of Income Tax [2025 SCC OnLine Del 605], framed the following directions:- “27. We accordingly dispose of this batch of writ petitions by directing the concerned AOs to evaluate the individual SCNs' under Section 148 of the Act bearing in mind our judgments in T.K.S. Builders, Abhinav Jindal and Naveen Kumar Gupta. These decisions have conclusively settled issues pertaining to the accordal of sanction under Section 151 as well as the authority of the jurisdictional AO to commence and undertake reassessment. Those decisions also lay at rest the challenge which the writ petitioners had raised that an AO is bound to adhere to the procedure prescribed by Section 153C in cases emanating from a search. 28. A similar exercise would have to be undertaken to examine the issue of surviving period in respect of each individual noticee under Section 148 and which would necessarily be guided by the judgments of Rajeev Bansal and Ram Balram. 29. The concerned AOs shall consequently pass a reasoned and speaking order dealing with the impact of the judgments referred to above upon the impugned reassessment notices and in the manner indicated in paras 27 and 28 of this order. That decision shall thus render a finding on whether the impugned reassessment notices would survive or be liable to be recalled. It shall be open to the writ petitioners to assail any adverse orders that may come to be passed pursuant to the above in accordance with law.”

This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:47:53

4.

Consequently and in light of the above, we dispose of the writ petition on terms identical to paragraphs 27 to 29 of Kanwaljeet Kaur.

YASHWANT VARMA, J

HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR, J FEBRUARY 17, 2025/akc This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 22:47:53

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