JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Appeal filed under Clause 15 of The Letters Patent against the order dated 26.04.2021 passed by the learned Judge of this court in W.P. No. 11399 of 2018.)

R. Mahadevan, J.

1. Aggrieved by the order of dismissal dated 26.04.2021 passed by the learned Judge in WP.No.11399 of 2018, the appellant / writ petitioner / assessee has come up with this writ appeal.

2. In the writ petition, the appellant sought to quash the reassessment notice dated 31.03.2018 issued by the respondent on the ground of limitation. Originally, she filed her return of income in Form ITR-V for the assessment year 2011-2012 on 27th July 2011. She also submitted her return of income for the subsequent assessment years and lastly for the assessment year 2017-2018, electronically, which were duly acknowledged by the respondent. While so, after a lapse of more than six years from the date of submission of return of income for the assessment year 2011-2012, the appellant received an e-mail dated 18.04.2018 sent by the respondent attaching therewith a notice dated 31.03.2018 issued under section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, (in short, “the Act”) in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 147 of the Act, for re-opening the assessment for the assessment year 2011-2012. Stating that the notice of the respondent dated 31.03.2018 under section 148 of the Act, received by her through e-mail on 18.04.2018 is time barred as per Section 149 of the Act, the appellant preferred the writ petition bearing No. 11399 of 2018 to quash the same.

3. Opposing the relief sought by the petitioner, the respondent filed a detailed counter affidavit, inter alia stating that the notice under section 148 of the Act for re-opening the assessment was signed on 31.03.2018 and it was given to the process server for despatch to the appellant on her last known address at No.17, Mylai Periya Thambi Street, Chennai - 600 001, on the same day, but the same was returned unserved by the process server on 06.04.2018 with an endorsement that “no such person is residing in the said address”. Thereafter, on the basis of the particulars furnished by the appellant in her last return of income for the assessment year 2017-2018, the notice dated 31.03.2018 was sent to the appellant's e-mail I.D. on 18.04.2018. Hence, the same is well within the period prescribed under Section 149 of the Act. The counter affidavit further proceeded to state that under section 147 of the Act, the respondent is empowered to assess, re-assess and re-compute the assessment, when there is reason to believe that certain income of the appellant has escaped from the assessment and that, the initiation of re-assessment proceedings commenced from the moment the notice dated 31.03.2018 was signed by the respondent. Therefore, the notice dated 31.03.2018 issued under section 148, received by the appellant through her mail on 18.04.2018 is well within the period of limitation. It was also stated that on receipt of the notice for re-assessment, the appellant ought to have first filed her return of income and thereafter, she can seek remedies available under law. Without doing so, the appellant rushed to this court by filing writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

4. By order dated 26.04.2021, the learned Judge, on appreciation of the rival contentions, dismissed the writ petition by observing that “it is sufficient if the notice under section 147 of the Act has been signed and issued by the authority and therefore, the delay in receiving the documents would not provide any ground for the appellant to quash the entire proceedings”. The said order of the learned Judge is questioned by the appellant / writ petitioner / assessee in this writ appeal.

5. The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the notice under section 148 of the Act for reopening the assessment for the assessment year 2011-12 beyond four years, was issued by the respondent through the appellant's registered e-mail only on