The assessee challenged notices under section 148A(b), an order under section 148A(d), and the consequent notice under section 148, all of which were issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO). The High Court held that the mandatory scheme notified under section 151A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 requires such proceedings to be conducted by a Faceless Assessing Officer (FAO) through automated allocation. This procedure grants exclusive jurisdiction to the FAO. Since the JAO lacked jurisdiction to issue the notices and pass the order, the initiation of the proceedings was fundamentally flawed and contrary to law, vitiating the entire process. The Court, therefore, quashed the impugned notices and order. (AY. 2019-20)