2020 (11) TMI 310 - ITAT LUCKNOW

Validity of notice u/s 143(2) - Eligibility of issuance of notice u/s. 143(2) - as argued notice u/s 143(2) was issued by an officer who had no jurisdiction over the assessee - Assessee argued the competent person to issue notice u/s 143(2) was Income Tax Officer-6, Kanpur who had passed the assessment order as the income of the assessee was less than ₹ 20 lacs whereas the notice u/s 143(2) has been issued by DCIT and that too by two DCITs from Circle-4 & 6 - HELD THAT:- In the present case instead of order having been passed by Commissioner, the transfer memo has been prepared by DCIT-6 and records have been transferred to jurisdictional Assessing Officer.

CBDT instruction clearly states that for corporate assessees having income upto ₹ 20 lac, the assessment is to be done by Income Tax Officer. In the present case, admittedly the assessee is a corporate assessee and its returned income is less than ₹ 20 lac as the assessee had filed return for an income of ₹ 11,11,750/-. Therefore, as per the above instructions, the jurisdictional Assessing Officer was Income Tax Officer and not DCIT or ACIT who had issued noticed u/s 143(2) of the Act. It is also an admitted fact that jurisdictional Assessing Officer which is Income Tax Officer, Ward-6, Kanpur had not issued any notice u/s 143(2).

In the present case we have already held that statutory notice u/s 143(2) was not issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer and therefore, the reliance placed by Learned D. R. on 292BB is of no help to Revenue.

Keeping in view the above facts and circumstances and legal precedents, we allow the jurisdictional ground taken by the assessee that the notice u/s 143(2) was not issued by an officer having jurisdiction on the assessee and who had passed the assessment order and therefore, we hold that in view of non issue of statutory notice u/s 143(2), the assessment order is bad in law and void ab in initio and hence all further proceedings including the order passed by the learned CIT(A) is bad in law and therefore, the appeal filed by Revenue against the order of learned CIT(A) does not stand and is dismissed. - Decided in favour of assessee.