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The recent Punjab & Haryana High Court decision declaring the newly inserted Section 147A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as unconstitutional has been stayed by the Supreme Court. Section 147A was inserted retrospectively to validate exercise of jurisdiction by Jurisdictional Assessing Officers.
Various High Courts had earlier held that the ‘Assessing Officer’ for the purpose of exercising jurisdiction to reopen an assessment under Section 148 would mean the National Faceless Assessment Centre and not the jurisdictional Assessing Officers.
Elaborately covering the P&H HC decision and the Supreme Court’ Order, including the reasons why the Court held that Section 147A was unconstitutional, the Update also provides relevant comments from the LKS Direct Tax Team. According to the Team, the legal position regarding the constitutional validity of Section 147A and the jurisdiction of jurisdictional Assessing Officers to initiate reassessment proceedings, thus, remains open.
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