Bhagwan Singh v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and Others

Punjab & Haryana HC24 Apr 2025CWP/8427/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

CWP-8427-2025 (O&M), Punjab & Haryana High Court, decided 24.04.2025. Keywords: Section 148 Income Tax Act 1961 notice validity; Section 147 assessment order; CBDT circular/notification dated 29.03.2022; NFAC exclusive power to issue Section 148 notices; AY 2019-2020; Jatinder Singh Bhangu CWP 15745-2024 (19.07.2024); Jasjit Singh (29.07.2024); appeal pending before Appellate Authority; writ petition disposed with direction to Appellate Authority; Bhagwan Singh v. Union of India.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition disposed of with a direction to the Appellate Authority to decide the petitioner's pending appeal in terms of the judgments in Jatinder Singh Bhangu and Jasjit Singh; all pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of. ¶¶25

Bhagwan Singh Vs Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and… — Income Tax | Punjab & Haryana HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the notice dated 29.03.2023 under Section 148, the assessment order dated 24.03.2024 under Section 147, and the demand notice dated 24.03.2024 (all for AY 2019-2020) and consequential actions are unsustainable as having been issued despite the CBDT circular/notification dated 29.03.2022 enumerating that the NFAC has exclusive power to issue Section 148 notices.

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Court's answer

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

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Ratio / Principle

Since the petitioner's appeal is pending before the Appellate Authority, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the Appellate Authority to decide the appeal of the petitioner in terms of the judgments in Jatinder Singh Bhangu and Jasjit Singh.

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Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Punjab and Haryana High Court (division bench; judgment authored by Sudeepti Sharma, J.; decision dated 24.04.2025) disposed of a writ petition (CWP-8427-2025 O&M) by Bhagwan Singh challenging, for AY 2019-2020, a notice dated 29.03.2023 under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, an assessment order dated 24.03.2024 under Section 147, a demand notice dated 24.03.2024 and consequential actions, on the ground that the CBDT circular/notification dated 29.03.2022 specifically enumerates that the NFAC has exclusive power to issue Section 148 notices. Relying on Co-ordinate Bench decisions in Jatinder Singh Bhangu (CWP No. 15745-2024, decided 19.07.2024) and Jasjit Singh (decided 29.07.2024), which allowed writ petitions on the same issue with liberty to the revenue to follow the procedure under the Act, 1961, and noting that the petitioner's appeal was pending before the Appellate Authority, the Court disposed of the writ petition directing the Appellate Authority to decide the appeal in terms of those judgments; pending applications stood disposed of.

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CWP-8427-2025

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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137 CWP-8427-2025 (O&M) Date of Decision:-24.04.2025

Bhagwan Singh

....Petitioner

Vs.

Union of India and ors.

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...Respondents

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CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE LISA GILL HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUDEEPTI SHARMA

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Present: Mr. Piyush Bansal, Advocate for the petitioner.

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Mr. Varun Issar, Sr. Standing counsel with Ms. Pridhi Sandhu, Jr. Standing counsel for the respondents.

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SUDEEPTI SHARMA, J.

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Challenge in the present petition is to notice dated 29.03.2023 issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short ‘Act 1961”); assessment order dated 24.03.2024 issued under Section 147 of the Act, 1961; demand notice dated 24.03.2024 and all consequential actions, for AY 2019-2020.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the issue involved in the above 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. 215092023 and other connected matters), decided on 29.07.2024. Learned counsel for the petitioner has further submitted that the petitioner has preferred an appeal and the same is pending before the Appellate Authority.

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Learned counsel appearing for Union of India has also not

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Gaurav Arora 2025.04.28 17:49 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

CWP-8427-2025

disputed the same.

We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the whole records of the case.

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The petitioner has challenged the notice dated 29.03.2023 issued under Section 148 of the Act, 1961; assessment order dated 24.03.2024 issued under Section 147 of the Act, 1961; demand notice dated 24.03.2024 and all consequential actions, for AY 2019-2020, 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.

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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.

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Since in the present case, the appeal is pending before the Appellate Authority, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the Appellate Authority to decide the appeal of the petitioner, in terms of the judgments mentioned above.

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

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(LISA GILL) JUDGE	(SUDEEPTI SHARMA) JUDGE
24.04.2025
Gaurav Arora	Whether speaking/reasoned _:Yes/No Whether reportable :_Yes/No

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Gaurav Arora 2025.04.28 17:49 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

Bhagwan Singh v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Bhagwan Singh v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and Others

Case brief

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What did the court decide?

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