Authority: High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh

Order Date: 14 May 2025

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: Open Door Welfare Society; Respondents: Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and others.
  • The petitioner challenged a notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2019‑2020, arguing that the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer lacked authority after the faceless assessment notification dated 28/29 March 2022, which confers exclusive power to the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC) to issue such notices.
  • Counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Rohit Kaura, contended the notice was erroneous; the Income Tax side was represented by Senior Standing Counsel Mr. Varun Issar and Ms. Pridhi Sandhu.
  • The Court referred to its earlier judgments in CWP No. 15745‑2024 (National Faceless Assessment Centre) and CWP No. 21509‑2023 (Jasjit Singh Vs Union of India), which had allowed similar writ petitions and affirmed the procedure under the Act.
  • The Court also aligned its reasoning with the decisions in Jatinder Singh Bhangu Vs Union of India and Jasjit Singh Vs Union of India, granting respondents liberty to follow the statutory procedure prescribed under the Act.

Final Outcome

  • The petition is dismissed in the same terms as the cited judgments, confirming the validity of the Section 148 notice issued under the faceless assessment framework.
  • Any pending applications, if any, are also disposed of.

Topics: Tax Assessment, Faceless Assessment