Business Standard ·
Centre moves Supreme Court over striking down of Income Tax Section 147A
Government challenges Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling that invalidated the retrospective provision governing tax reassessment powers of jurisdictional officers in India
The Union government has moved the Supreme Court against a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling that declared Section 147A of the Income Tax Act unconstitutional, a decision that has raised questions over the validity of reassessment proceedings conducted by jurisdictional tax officers.
Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, on Wednesday sought an urgent hearing of the Centre’s special leave petition (SLP) before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The CJI agreed to have the matter listed on an urgent basis.
Seeking an early hearing, Venkataraman told the court that the High Court ruling had created a “huge vacuum” in the law and that the issue was being closely followed by taxpayers.
The challenge concerns the statutory framework governing reassessment proceedings under Sections 148 and 148A of the Income Tax Act, particularly the respective roles of the jurisdictional assessing officer (JAO) and the National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC).
The dispute gained prominence after the introduction of the faceless assessment regime. A key question before the courts was whether jurisdictional officers retained the authority to independently issue reassessment notices under Section 148 and pass orders under Section 148A, or whether such functions were required to be routed through the faceless assessment mechanism.