Sandeep vs Income Tax Officer

PER YOGESH KUMAR, U.S. JM:

The captioned appealsare filed by the Assessee against the orders of Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals/ National Faceless Appeal Centre (‘Ld. CIT(A)/NFAC’ for short), New Delhi dated 28/11/2025 for the Assessment Years 2015-16 and 2017-18 respectively.

The Ld. Counsel for the Assessee submitted that the notice dated30/07/2022 issued u/s 148 of the Act for the year under consideration i.e. A.Y 2015-16 is barred by limitation as the same is issued after expiry of six years from the end of the relevant Assessment Year.

Per contra, the Ld. Departmental Representative relying on the orders of the Lower Authorities, sought for dismissal of the Appeal.

We have heard the parties and perused the material available on record. The assessment has been framed for the year under consideration i.e. 2015-16 pursuant to the Notice issued u/S 148 of the Act on 30/07/2022, which has been issued after expiry of six years from the end of relevant Assessment Year. Thus, same is hit by the proviso to Section 149(1) of the Act. Therefore, we quash the assessment order which has been affirmed by the Ld. CIT(A) vide order impugned.

The Ld. Counsel for the Assessee submitted that the Ld. A.O. passed the order u/s 148A(d) dated 29/07/2022 on obtaining approval from Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax, Rohtak. However, as per Section 151(ii) of the Act, the prior approval was required to be taken from Principal Commissioner of Income Tax or Principal Director General of Income-tax as the said notice has been issued beyond the period of three years from the end of relevant A.Y i.e. 2017-18. Thus, submitted that the order impugned deserves to be quashed.

Per contra, the Ld. Departmental Representative submitted that the approval mentioned in the order passed under 148A(d) of the Act dated 29/07/2022 might be a typographical error, which requires verification from the A.O. thus, sought for time. The Bench has given one week time to file written submission in case the approval mentioned in the order passed u/s 148A(d) of the Act (supra) is typographical error. However, no written submission has been filed by the Ld. DR till this date.

Considering the fact that the notice dated 29/07/2022 passed u/s 148A(d) of the Act has been issued beyond three years from end of the relevant Assessment Year and it is evident from the said notice that approval has been taken from Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax, Rohtak instead of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax or Principal Director General of Income-tax, which is in violation of provision of Section 151(ii) of the Act. Therefore, we quash the assessment order which has been affirmed by the Ld. CIT(A) vide order impugned.

In the result, Appeal in ITA Nos. 8680/Del/2025 and 8681/Del/2025 are allowed.