Vijay Kumar Arora Vs Assistant Commissioner of Income… — Income Tax | Punjab & Haryana HC (2025)

Vijay Kumar Arora Vs Assistant Commissioner of Income… — Income Tax | Punjab & Haryana HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of in terms of the Co-ordinate Bench judgments in Jatinder Singh Bhangu (19.07.2024) and Jasjit Singh (29.07.2024); all pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.

Issue for consideration

Whether the notice dated 31.08.2024 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for AY 2015-2016 was validly issued, the petitioner contending that the Issuing Authority had no jurisdiction in view of the CBDT circular/notification dated 29.03.2022, which vests exclusive power to issue Section 148 notices in the NFAC.

Court's answer

The Court disposed of the writ petition in terms of the Co-ordinate Bench decisions in Jatinder Singh Bhangu (decided 19.07.2024) and Jasjit Singh (decided 29.07.2024), which had allowed identical writ petitions on the same issue by granting liberty to the revenue to follow the procedure laid down under the Act, 1961 and proceed accordingly, if so advised.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Income Tax - Reassessment - Validity of notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 - Punjab and Haryana High Court (Sudeepti Sharma, J.; coram: Arun Palli and Sudeepti Sharma, JJ.), CWP-4488-2025 (O&M), decided 18.02.2025 - Petitioner challenged notice dated 31.08.2024 issued under Section 148 for AY 2015-2016 and consequential proceedings on the ground that the Issuing Authority had no jurisdiction, since the CBDT circular/notification dated 29.03.2022 vests exclusive power to issue Section 148 notices in the NFAC - Counsel relied on the Co-ordinate Bench rulings in Jatinder Singh Bhangu (CWP No. 15745-2024 and connected matter, decided 19.07.2024) and Jasjit Singh (CWP No. 21509-2023 and other connected matters, decided 29.07.2024); counsel for the Union of India did not dispute the coverage - Held: writ petition disposed of in terms of both Co-ordinate Bench decisions, which had allowed identical petitions granting liberty to the revenue to follow the procedure laid down under the Act, 1961 and proceed accordingly, if so advised; pending applications, if any, also disposed of.

CWP-4488-2025

1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

144

CWP-4488-2025 (O&M) Date of Decision:-18.02.2025

Vijay Kumar Arora

....Petitioner

Vs.

Asstt. Commissioner of Income Tax Officer, Circle 1, Faridabad and ors.

...Respondents

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN PALLI HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUDEEPTI SHARMA

Present: Mr. Kartik Bansal, Advocate for the petitioner

Mr. Varun Issar, Sr. Standing counsel with Ms. Pridhi Sandhu, Jr. Standing counsel for the respondent-department.

SUDEEPTI SHARMA, J.

Challenge in the instant writ petition is to notice dated 31.08.2024 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short ‘Act 1961”) and conseuqential proceedings, for AY 2015-2016.

Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the issue involved in the present writ petition is covered by the judgment passed by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in the cases of Jatinder Singh Bhangu vs. Union of India and others , passed in CWP No. 15745-2024 and connected matter, decided on 19.07.2024 and Jasjit Singh vs. Union of India and others (CWP No. 21509-2023 and other connected matters), decided on 29.07.2024 .

Learned counsel appearing for Union of India has also not disputed the same.

We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the

Gaurav Arora 2025.02.25 14:32 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

CWP-4488-2025

2

whole records of the case.

The petitioner has challenged the notice dated 31.08.2024 issued under Section 148 of the Act, 1961, for AY 2015-2016, on the ground that the Issuing Authority had no jurisdiction to issue the same, in view of the circular/notification dated 29.03.2022 of the CBDT, wherein, it has been specifically enumerated that the NFAC has exclusive power to issue the notice under Section 148 of the Act, 1961.

A Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Jatinder Singh Bhangu’s case (supra) and Jasjit Singh’s case (supra), allowed the writ petitions on the same issue, as raised in the present writ petition, by granting liberty to the revenue to follow the procedure as laid down under the Act, 1961 and proceed accordingly, if so advised.

In view of the above, the present writ petition is disposed of, in terms of Jatinder Singh Bhangu’s case (supra), decided on 19.07.2024 and Jasjit Singh’s case (supra), decided on 29.07.2024

All the pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.

(ARUN PALLI) (SUDEEPTI SHARMA) JUDGE JUDGE

18.02.2025

Gaurav Arora

Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes/No Whether reportable : Yes/No

Gaurav Arora 2025.02.25 14:32 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document