Politics
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Supreme Court stays tax reassessment High Court ruling
Livemint··18 Sept
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that struck down an Income-Tax Act provision on reassessment. Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran said assessments and reassessments must not proceed until the main case ends. Final hearing is listed for December 3. The Centre said the High Court order created a vacuum in reassessment.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Reassessment actions tied to the stayed dispute are paused until the Supreme Court decides the main matter.
- The fight turns on whether local jurisdictional officers or the faceless system must issue Section 148 notices.
- Taxpayers who challenged JAO notices after the faceless scheme remain inside a live appellate fight.
What's Happening
- The High Court on September 10 struck down Section 147A, inserted by the Finance Act, 2026 with effect from April 1, 2021.
- Additional solicitor general N. Venkataraman told the court the ruling left a huge vacuum for the tax department.
- The High Court batch covered more than 500 connected petitions after earlier notice challenges.
How Faceless Reassessment Reached Court
- CBDT notified a Section 151A faceless scheme on March 29, 2022 for automated case allocation.
- Lawyer Jyoti Sareen's March 2024 Section 148 notice helped trigger the Punjab and Haryana litigation.
- Section 147A sought to validate JAO reassessment notices despite the faceless framework.
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