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2016 (6) TMI 117 - ITAT DELHIReopening of assessment - validity of service of notice u/s 148 which was never served upon the assessee - Held that:- Whenever a reassessment is sought to be made u/s 147, issuing and serving of a valid notice u/s 148 is a mandatory precondition. The onus lies on the Revenue authorities to prove that the notice was served on the assessee within the stipulated period. It is only if the said notice is served on the assessee that the assessing officer would be justified in taking up proceedings against the assessee. If no notice is issued, or if the notice issued is shown to be invalid, then the proceedings taken up by the assessing officer would be illegal and void. In this case, it is very much apparent that the notice u/s 148 had not been served on the assessee. The Assessing Officer can assume jurisdiction to complete the assessment only after valid and legal service of the notice in accordance with law. Unless such notice has duly been served, the Assessing Officer cannot be said to have been clothed with the jurisdiction to pass the assessment order. The mandate of section 148 is that notice should be served on the assessee, by prescribed mode of service, which has undeniably not been carried out in this case. In the absence of a valid service of notice u/s 148, the reassessment order passed by the Assessing Officer is illegal and void ab initio. See CIT vs Chetan Gupta [2015 (9) TMI 756 - DELHI HIGH COURT ] - Decided in favour of assessee
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