| Question And Answer | |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Regarding reopening of case after period mentioned in 148 |
| Category: | Income-Tax |
| Querist: | Suresh Goyal |
| Answered by: | Law Intern |
| Tags: | incriminating material, reopening of assessment, Revision of orders prejudicial to revenue, search assessment, section 263 |
| Date: | July 22, 2025 |
Notice u/s 148 was issued on 05.04.2022 for A.Y 2018-19 after completing the formalities of issue of notice u/s 148A(b) and order u/s 148A(d).
The assessment was going on. In the meantime assessee received notice u/s 153C dt 18.01.2023 in a search matter conducted on 20.10.2019 and therefore proceeding u/s 148 got abated. AO pass the assessment order u/s 153C on 13.02.2024 at returned income. Thereafter assesse received notice u/s 263 from CIT mentioning that AO has not discussed the issue raised while opening case u/s 148. It is also alleged that he did not make any inquiry about matter mentioned in notice u/s 148. CIT pass the order u/s 263 treating order passed u/s 153C as erroneous and prejudicial to the interest of the revenue. As no incriminating material relating to A.Y 2018-19 was found as per satisfaction note, whether the CIT is justified in treating order as erroneous and moreover whether the AO can go beyond material mentioned in satisfaction note.
It appears the CIT is not justified in invoking section 263. The section 148 proceedings have abated. The issues raised in the section 148 notice can be inquired into by the AO in the section 153C assessment unless only if they are supported by incriminating material. As the satisfaction note explicitly states that no incriminating material was found for A.Y. 2018-19, the AO’s jurisdiction to make additions or inquire further is constrained.