Allowed¶17

Moonlight Properties Private Limited v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Central Circle 2 Chandigarh and Others

Punjab & Haryana HC29 Jul 2025CWP/21447/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Income Tax; Section 148 Income Tax Act 1961; notice dated 22.03.2024 quashed; faceless assessment; notification dated 29.03.2022 Ministry of Finance; Jurisdictional Assessing Officer; CWP-21447-2025; Moonlight Properties Pvt. Ltd.; Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Chandigarh; Jatinder Singh Bhangu CWP-15745-2024 decided 19.07.2024; Jasjit Singh CWP-21509-2023 decided 29.07.2024; Punjab & Haryana High Court Chandigarh; writ petition allowed; liberty to proceed in accordance with law.

What did the court decide?

Quashing of the notice dated 22.03.2024 (Annexure P-1) issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, with liberty to the respondents to proceed against the petitioner in accordance with law. ¶17

Moonlight Properties Private Limited Vs Assistant… — Income Tax | Punjab & Haryana HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶17

Issue for consideration

Whether the notice dated 22.03.2024 (Annexure P-1) under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was validly issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer when, in terms of the notification dated 29.03.2022 (Annexure P-2) issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, such notice could have been issued only by way of faceless assessment.

¶10

Court's answer

In terms of the law laid down in Jatinder Singh Bhangu and Jasjit Singh (supra), the impugned notice dated 22.03.2024 (Annexure P-1) issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer is quashed, with liberty to the respondents to proceed against the petitioner in accordance with law.

¶16

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh, CWP-21447-2025 (Sr. No.130), decided 29.07.2025; Bench: Deepak Sibal and Lapita Banerji, JJ., opinion delivered orally by Deepak Sibal, J. Moonlight Properties Pvt. Ltd. challenged a notice dated 22.03.2024 (Annexure P-1) issued to it by the respondents under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer, contending that in terms of the notification dated 29.03.2022 (Annexure P-2) issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, such notice could have been issued only by way of faceless assessment. Counsel relied on two coordinate-Bench decisions of the same Court: Jatinder Singh Bhangu vs. Union of India and others (CWP-15745-2024, decided 19.07.2024) and Jasjit Singh vs. Union of India and others (CWP-21509-2023, decided 29.07.2024); learned counsel for the respondents did not dispute that the petitioner's case was covered by the law laid down therein. In terms of that law, the Court quashed the impugned notice dated 22.03.2024 with liberty to the respondents to proceed against the petitioner in accordance with law, and allowed the petition.

¶1

IN THE HIG H COURT OF PUNJAB & HARY A NA AT CHANDIGARH Sr. No.130 CWP-21447-2025 Date of decision : 29.07.2025

¶2

Moonlight Properties Pvt. Ltd. .…. Petitioner

¶3

Versus

¶4

Assistant Commiss i oner of Income Tax, Chandigarh and ot h ers ..... Respondents

¶5

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEEPAK SI B AL HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE LAPITA BA N ERJI

¶6

Present : Mr. K artik Bansal, Advocate, for the pe t itioner.

¶7

Mr. Y ogesh Putney, Senior Standing C o unsel, with Mr. V aibhav Gupta, Junior Standing Counsel, for t h e Income Tax Department.

¶8

¶9

DEEPAK SIBAL, J . (Oral)

¶10

Challenge made through the instant petition is to the notice dated 22.03.2024 (Anne x ure P-1) issued to the petitioner b y the respondents under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The primary g r ound of challenge raised by the petitioner is that t h e impugned notice has been issue d by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer which cou l d have not been done because i n terms of the notification dated 29.03.2022 (Anne x ure P-2) issued by the Ministry o f Finance, Government of India, the impugned notice could have been issued only by w ay of faceless assessment. 2. In su p port of his afore submission, l e arned counsel for the petitioner places reliance on t h e following two judgments of thi s Court:-

¶11

(i) C W P-15745-2024, titled Jatinder Si n gh Bhangu vs. Union of In d ia and others , decided on 19.07.2 0 24; and (ii) C W P-21509-2023, titled Jasjit Sing h vs. Union of India and o thers , decided on 29.07.2024. 3. Lear n ed counsel for the respondents d oes not dispute the fact that the case of the petiti o ner is covered in its favour by the law laid down through the

¶12

SHAMSHER SINGH 2025.08.07 10:34 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Punjab and haryana high court, chandigarh

¶13

CWP-21447-2025

¶14

[ 2 ]

¶15

aforesaid two judg m ents rendered by two different co-ordinate Benches of this Court in the cases of Jati n der Singh Bhangu and Jasjit Sing h (supra).

¶16

In th e light of the above, in terms of t h e law laid down in the cases of Jatinder Singh Bhangu and Jasjit Singh (supra), the i m pugned notice dated 22.03.2024 (Annexure P-1) iss u ed by the Jurisdictional Assessin g Officer, is hereby quashed with liberty to the respo n dents to proceed against the petiti o ner in accordance with law.

¶17

The p etition is allowed in the above ter m s.

¶18

[DEEPAK SIBAL] JUDGE

¶19

29.07.2025 [LAPITA BANERJI] shamsher JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes / N o Whether reportable : Yes / N o

¶20

SHAMSHER SINGH 2025.08.07 10:34 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Punjab and haryana high court, chandigarh

Moonlight Properties Private Limited v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Central Circle 2 Chandigarh and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Moonlight Properties Private Limited v. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Central Circle 2 Chandigarh and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

All orders in this case

Similar cases

Mohan Lal Vs Neeru Bala

Sadhu Singh Since Deceased Thr Lrs Vs State of Punjab and Others

Shaminder Singh @ Happy Vs Kulwant Kaur @ Raji

Sandeep Vs State of Haryana and Others

Gurpreet Singh Vs State of Punjab and Others

Balwant Singh Cheema through Legal Heir Jatinder Kaur Cheema Vs Union of India and Others