D. Y. CHANDRACHUD, J. B. PARDIWALA, MANOJ MISRA
Union of India – Appellant
Versus
Rajeev Bansal – Respondent
Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points regarding the Supreme Court's judgment in Union of India & Ors. vs. Rajeev Bansal:
1. Applicability of TOLA Post-April 1, 2021 * The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Act, 2020 (TOLA) continues to apply to the Income Tax Act even after the new reassessment regime came into effect on April 1, 2021. * TOLA applies if the time limit for completing an action (such as issuing a notice or obtaining sanction) falls between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2021, regardless of whether the relevant provision was amended by the Finance Act 2021. (!) (!) * Section 3(1) of TOLA contains a non obstante clause ("notwithstanding anything contained in the specified Act") which overrides the time limits in the Income Tax Act to provide relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (!) (!)
2. Time Limits for Issuing Reassessment Notices * General Limit (3 Years): For all situations, the time limit to issue a notice under Section 148 is three years from the end of the relevant assessment year under the new regime. (!) (!) * Extended Limit (6 Years): If the time limit under the old regime (six years) fell between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2021, TOLA extends this deadline to June 30, 2021. Consequently, notices for assessment years where the six-year limit expired during this period can be issued until June 30, 2021. (!) (!) * Monetary Threshold: Notices invoking the extended six-year limit (under the old regime) are valid only if the escaped income amounts to or is likely to amount to ₹50 lakhs or more, as per the new regime's Section 149(1)(b). (!) (!)
3. Sanction of Specified Authority * TOLA extends the time limit for the specified authority to grant sanction under Section 151 if the time limit for such sanction falls between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2021. (!) (!) * For the new regime, if the three-year period falls within the TOLA window, the sanctioning authority (Principal Commissioner, etc.) has time until June 30, 2021, to grant approval. (!)
4. Legal Fiction Created in Ashish Agarwal * In Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal, the Supreme Court deemed reassessment notices issued between April 1, 2021, and June 30, 2021, under the old regime to be show-cause notices under Section 148A(b) of the new regime. (!) (!) * This legal fiction implies that all consequences flowing from the issuance of these deemed notices must be respected. (!) * The period during which the Revenue was unable to proceed with these deemed notices (due to the Court's stay and the requirement to provide information/material) must be excluded from the limitation period calculation. (!) (!) * The two-week period granted to assessee to reply to the show-cause notice must also be excluded from the limitation period. (!)
5. Validity of Notices Issued in July-September 2022 * Reassessment notices issued under the new regime between July and September 2022 are valid only if they fall within the "surviving time limit" calculated after accounting for TOLA extensions and the exclusions mandated by the Ashish Agarwal judgment. (!) * Notices issued beyond this surviving period are time-barred and invalid. (!) (!) * The High Courts' judgments quashing notices issued under the old regime between April and June 2021 are set aside to the extent they conflict with this judgment, as the notices can be deemed valid if they comply with the new regime and TOLA. (!)
JUDGMENT :
Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, CJI.
| Table of Contents | |
| A. | Background |
| i. INCOME TAX ACT | |
| ii. TOLA | |
| iii. Finance Act 2021 | |
| B. | Issues |
| C. | Submissions |
| D. | Legal Background |
| i. Assessment as a quasi-judicial function | |
| ii. Assessment as an issue of jurisdiction | |
| iii. Principles of strict interpretation and workability | |
| iv. Principle of harmonious construction | |
| E. | Reading TOLA into the INCOME TAX ACT |
| i. First proviso to Section 149 (1) of the new regime | |
| ii. TOLA can extend the time limit till 31 June 2021 | |
| a. Finance Act 2021 substituted the old regime | |
| b. Reading TOLA into Section 149 | |
| iii. Sanction of the specified authority | |
| F. | Section 148 notices issued in June-September 2022 |
| i. Scope of Article 142 | |
| ii. The scope of Ashish Agarwal extended to all the reassessment notices issued between 1 April 2021 and 30 June 2021 under the old regime | |
| iii. Effect of the legal fiction | |
| a. Third proviso to Section 149 | |
| b. Interplay of Ashish Agarwal with TOLA | |
| G. | Conclusions |
1. The present batch of appeals involves the interplay of three Parliamentary statutes: the INCOME TAX ACT 1961,1[“ INCOM
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Reassessment notices issued after 1 April 2021 must comply with the new regime's provisions, including updated time limits, as established by the Income Tax Act and TOLA.
The court affirmed that reassessment notices issued beyond prescribed limitation are invalid, emphasizing required prior approval must follow the hierarchy outlined in the Income Tax Act post-amendme....
Notices issued under the old regime must comply with new provisions under Section 148A, and reassessment actions are invalid if they do not meet the threshold or proper authority approval.
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