February 2023
Reassessment — Notice under section 148 — Limitation — Notice for A. Y. 2013-14 sent by e-mail and received by the assessee on 1st April, 2021 — Notice issued beyond time limit — Not valid
By K. B. Bhujle, Advocate
Reading Time 3 mins
78 Mohan Lal Santwani vs. UOI
[2022] 449 ITR 476 (All)
A. Y.: 2013-14
Date of order: 25th April, 2022
Sections: 147, 148 and 149 of ITA 1961
Reassessment — Notice under section 148 — Limitation — Notice for A. Y. 2013-14 sent by e-mail and received by the assessee on 1st April, 2021 — Notice issued beyond time limit — Not valid
For the A. Y. 2013-14 a notice under section 148 was sent by the Department by e-mail. The e-mail was received by the assessee on 1st April, 2021. The assessee filed a writ petition and challenged the validity of the notice.
The Allahabad High Court allowed the writ petition and held as under:
“i) The principles of judicial discipline and propriety and binding precedent, are as follows :
(a) Judicial discipline and propriety are the two significant facets of administration of justice. The principles of judicial discipline require that orders of the higher appellate authorities are followed unreservedly by the subordinate authorities. The mere fact that the order of the appellate authority is not “acceptable” to the Department, in itself an objectionable phrase, or that is the subject matter of an appeal can furnish no ground for not following it unless its operation has been suspended by a competent court. If this healthy rule is not followed, the result will only be undu
