Allowing the petition the Court held, that it was the duty of the Income-tax Officer to have examined and verified the contentions of the assessee in respect of cancellation of the old permanent account number and the returns filed under the new permanent account number before the issuance of the order and the notice. The order under section 148A and notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, were not valid.
Obiter : The Income-tax authorities ought to prominently display the steps for cancellation of a permanent account number on their website apart from sending a link for cancellation in the covering letter when a permanent account number is provided to an assessee.(AY.2019-20)