2025 Supreme(Guj) 1344
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
BHARGAV D. KARIA, PRANAV TRIVEDI, JJ.
Narendra Maganlal Purohit – Petitioner
Versus
Deputy Commissioner Of Income Tax, Circle 3(1)(1), Ahmedabad – Respondent
R/Special Civil Application No. 17443 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 17574 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 17667 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 17894 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 18001 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 18774 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 19264 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 19313 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 19326 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 19453 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20589 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20735 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20743 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20758 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20775 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20780 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20869 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 20981 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 21140 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 21282 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 21380 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22145 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22211 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22340 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22379 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22444 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22666 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22709 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22732 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22735 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22736 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22737 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22771 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 22775 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23207 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23210 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23213 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23214 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23231 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23247 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23248 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23264 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23266 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23862 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 23921 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 24214 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 24561 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 25490 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 25529 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 25750 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 25918 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 25920 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 25927 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 26252 Of 2022 With R/Special Civil Application No. 211 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 282 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 438 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 989 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 997 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1320 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1327 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1329 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1345 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1438 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1443 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1453 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1790 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1791 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1793 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1828 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1830 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 1831 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2299 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2303 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2318 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2427 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2428 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2725 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2797 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2809 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2898 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2925 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2929 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2934 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2935 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2941 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2965 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2981 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 2993 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 4323 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 4943 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5096 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5098 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5204 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5205 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5247 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5278 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5299 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5318 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5341 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 5470 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6098 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6109 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6118 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6124 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6274 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6441 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 6598 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 7502 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 7667 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 7677 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 7688 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 8445 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 8563 Of 2023 With R/Special Civil Application No. 8961 Of 2023
Decided On : 14-07-2025
Important Points
Subject
Tax Law - Income Tax
Act Referred
Headnote
Facts of the case:
The petitioner challenged multiple notices under section 148 issued by the Assessing Officer on the pretext of TOLA provisions without valid sanction as required from 01.04.2021.
Findings of Court:
Notices issued post-31.03.2021 deemed invalid and quashed due to timeline issues under applicable statutes.
Issues: Whether the notices issued after 31.03.2021 were valid under the Income Tax Act and TOLA provisions?
Ratio Decidendi: Court affirms that notices issued after 31.03.2021 are invalid as Revenue’s concession establishes they fall outside the permitted timeframe as specified in the Act and TOLA provisions.
Result: Petitions allowed; notices quashed.
For the Petitioners:Mr Tushar Hemani Senior Advocate With Ms Vaibhavi K Parikh, Mr Sn Soparkar Senior Advocate With Mr Bs Soparkar, Mr Manish J. Shah, Mr Hardik Vora, Ms Shrunjal T. Shah, Mr Darshan B Gandhi, Mr Tushar Hemani Senior Advocate With Mr Parimalsinh Parmar, Ms Nupur D Shah, Mr Jimi S. Patel, Mr Hiren J. Trivedi.
For the Respondents: Ms Maithili D Mehta, Senior Standing Counsel, Mr Karan G Sanghani, Senior Standing Counsel, Mr Varun K Patel, Senior Standing Counsel.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. court permits joined hearing and identifies common issues. (Para 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. challenge against notices under income tax act section 148. (Para 4 , 5) |
| 3. invalidity of notices issued post tola. (Para 6 , 7 , 8) |
| 4. supreme court clarifies notice issuance protocols. (Para 9 , 10) |
| 5. concession by revenue affects 2015-2016 assessments. (Para 11 , 12) |
| 6. similar rulings from other jurisdictional courts. (Para 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17) |
| 7. court quashes notices issued incorrectly. (Para 18 , 19) |
| 8. final decision on invalidity of impugned notices. (Para 20) |
JUDGMENT :
BHARGAV D. KARIA, J.
1. Heard learned Senior Advocate Mr. Tushar Hemani with learned advocate Ms. Vaibhavi K. Parikh with learned advocate Mr. Parimalsinh Parmar, learned Senior Advocate Mr. S.N. Soparkar with learned advocate Mr. B.S. Soparkar, learned advocate Mr. Manish J. Shah, learned advocate Mr. Hardik Vora, learned advocate Ms. Shrunjal T. Shah, learned advocate Mr. Darshan B. Gandhi, learned advocate Ms. Nupur D. Shah, learned advocate Mr. Jimi S. Patel, learned advocate Mr. Hiren J. Trivedi for the petitioners and learned Senior Standing Counsel Ms.Maithili D. Mehta, learned Senior Standing Counsel Mr. Karan G. Sanghani and learned Senior Standing Counsel Mr. Varun K. Patel for the respondents.
2. The issue involved is identical in all these petitions and therefore, with the consent of the learned advocates for the respective parties, they have been heard together and would be disposed off by this common judgment.
3. Rule returnable forthwith. learned Senior Standing Counsel Ms.Maithili D. Mehta, learned Senior Standing Counsel Mr. Karan G. Sanghani and learned Senior Standing Counsel Mr. Varun K. Patel waives service of notice of rule on behalf of the the respondents.
4. In this group of petitions, the petitioners have challenged notices issued under section 148 of the INCOME TAX ACT , 1961 (for short “the Act”) for the Assessment Year 2015-2016 under the old regime in view of TOLA without issuing notice under section 148A(b) as required to be issued with effect from 01.04.2021.
5. Details of each individual matter is summarised as under:
| Sr. No. | SCA No. | Assessment Year | Date of Notice under section 148 under TOLA | Date of notice under section 148A(b) after judgment in case of Ashish Agarwal |
| 1 | 17443/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 30.05.2022 |
| 2 | 17574/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 24.05.2022 |
| 3 | 17667/2022 | 2015-2016 | 26.04.2021 | 29.07.2022 |
| 4 | 17894/2022 | 2015-2016 | 25.06.2021 | 24.05.2022 |
| 5 | 18001/2022 | 2015-2016 | 28.06.2021 | 26.07.2022 |
| 6 | 18774/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 30.05.2022 |
| 7 | 19264/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.06.2021 | 30.06.2022 |
| 8 | 19313/2022 | 2015-2016 | 19.04.2021 | 29.07.2022 |
| 9 | 19326/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.04.2021 | 26.07.2022 |
| 10 | 19453/2022 | 2015-2016 | 18.06.2021 | 01.06.2022 |
| 11 | 20589/2022 | 2015-2016 | 21.04.2021 | 26.07.2022 |
| 12 | 20735/2022 | 2015-2016 | 29.06.2021 | 24.05.2022 |
| 13 | 20743/2022 | 2015-2016 | 18.05.2021 | 29.07.2022 |
| 14 | 20758/2022 | 2015-2016 | 28.04.2021 | 01.06.2022 |
| 15 | 20775/2022 | 2015-2016 | 27.04.2021 | 27.07.2022 |
| 16 | 20780/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 29.07.2022 |
| 17 | 20869/2022 | 2015-2016 | 29.06.2021 | 24.05.2022 |
| 18 | 20981/2022 | 2015-2016 | 29.06.2021 | 23.05.2022 |
| 19 | 21140/2022 | 2015-2016 | 17.05.2021 | 27.07.2022 |
| 20 | 21282/2022 | 2015-2016 | 18.06.2021 | 27.05.2022 |
| 21 | 21380/2022 | 2015-2016 | 24.06.2021 | 30.07.2022 |
| 22 | 22145/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 31.08.2022 |
| 23 | 22211/2022 | 2015-2016 | 28.06.2021 | 21.05.2022 |
| 24 | 22340/2022 | 2015-2016 | 21.04.2021 | 30.06.2022 |
| 25 | 22379/2022 | 2015-2016 | 12.05.2021 | 26.07.2022 |
| 26 | 22444/2022 | 2015-2016 | 20.04.2021 | 24.05.2022 |
| 27 | 22666/2022 | 2015-2016 | 29.06.2021 | 26.07.2022 |
| 28 | 22709/2022 | 2015-2016 | 09.06.2021 | 24.05.2022 |
| 29 | 22732/2022 | 2015-2016 | 28.06.2021 | 19.05.2022 |
| 30 | 22735/2022 | 2015-2016 | 26.04.2021 | 30.05.2022 |
| 31 | 22736/2022 | 2015-2016 | 24.06.2021 | 25.05.2022 |
| 32 | 22737/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.04.2021 | 25.05.2022 |
| 33 | 22771/2022 | 2015-2016 | 25.06.2021 | 27.05.2022 |
| 34 | 22775/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 26.05.2022 |
| 35 | 23207/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.04.2021 | 28.05.2022 |
| 36 | 23210/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 28.05.2022 |
| 37 | 23213/2022 | 2015-2016 | 29.06.2021 | 26.05.2022 |
| 38 | 23214/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.04.2021 | 25.05.2022 |
| 39 | 23231/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.04.2021 | 25.05.2022 |
| 40 | 23247/2022 | 2015-2016 | 23.04.2021 | 28.07.2022 |
| 41 | 23248/2022 | 2015-2016 | 30.06.2021 | 26.05.2022 |
| 42 | 23264/2022 | 2015-2016 | 29.06.202 | |