TMI Blog2013 (3) TMI 331X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Assessing Authority should wait for the expiry of the said period. The said argument is ridiculous and not acceptable. The ambit and scope of reassessment proceeding is limited and restricted and if the Assessing Authority in its wisdom proceeds to assess the income with the help of limited power, it does not lie in the mouth of the assessee to say that the Assessing Authority should have exercised wider jurisdiction i.e. the regular assessment proceeding instead - matter remanded back to the Tribunal to rehear and re-decide the appeals on merits on other issues. - TAX APPEAL No. 418 of 2010 - - - Dated:- 8-3-2013 - Prakash Krishna And Ram Surat Ram,JJ. Petitioner Counsel :A. N.Mahajan/Ssc Respondent Counsel :S. K. Garg,Ashish Bansal JUDGMENT Present appeal has been filed under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') against the order dated 30th June, 2010 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, B Bench, Lucknow (hereinafter referred to as 'the Tribunal) in I.T.A. No. 308 (luc.)/2009 connected with I.T.A. No. 312(Luc.)/2009 for the assessment year 200506. In the memo of appeal the following substantial question of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vailable for issuing notice u/s 143(2) of the Act had not expired ? The only point mooted in the present appeal as is apparent from the substantial question of law is whether the initiation of reassessment proceeding on the facts and circumstances of the case, was valid or not. The material facts are not in dispute. Learned counsel for the department submits that the controversy on hand is not res integra and so far this court is concerned and it stands concluded against the assessee in view of the decision Pradeep Kumar Har Saran Lal versus Assessing Officer (1998) 229 ITR 46. In reply, the learned counsel for the assesseerespondent has placed reliance on the following cases. 1. Trustees of H.E.H. The Nizam's Supplemental Family Trust vs. Commissioner of Income Tax, (2000) ITR 381 (SC); 2. Commissioner of Income Tax vs. K.M. Pachayappan, (2008) 304 ITR 264 (Mad); and 3. Commissioner of Income Tax vs. TCP Ltd., (2010) 323 ITR 346. Considered the respective submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. Section 143 of the Act provides that where a return of income has been made under section 139, or in response to a notice under subsectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assessments under Section 148 cannot be issued, i.e., no reassessment proceedings can be initiated so long as assessment proceedings pending on the basis of the return already filed are not terminated. According to the Revenue it is immaterial whether the order is communicated or not and that the only bar to the reassessment proceedings is that proceedings on the return already filed should have been terminated. In support of this contention reference was made to certain decisions of the High Courts and some observations made by this Court in a case, which we note as under. The aforesaid judgment has been followed by the Madras High Court in the case of Commissioner of Income Tax vs. K.M. Pachayappan (supra) and Commissioner of Income Tax vs. TCP Ltd. (supra). The fact that the judgment of the Apex Court was delivered under Section 147 as it then stood in the assessment year 196263, apparently escaped the attention of the learned Judges of Madras High Court. The Madras High Court has relied upon a judgment of Delhi High Court in the case of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines vs. Director of IT, (2007) 292 ITR 49 (Del). Coming to the facts of the case on hand, a bare perusal of the ass ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssessment made under section 143(1)(a) is far wider than in an assessment under Section 143(2) read with Section 143(3). In our view, the power that can be exercised under Section 143(2) to correct the assessment made under Section 143(1) does not exclude the power of the Assessing Officer to reopen the assessment under Section 147 if the ingredients of Section 147 are satisfied. It is open to the Assessing Officer to invoke the jurisdiction under Section 147, notwithstanding the fact that there are other remedies open to him under the Act. It cannot, therefore, be accepted that the reassessment under Section 147 is vitiated because the Assessing Officer failed to invoke his power to correct the assessment already completed under Section 143(1) by issuing a notice under Section 143(2) of the Act. Thereafter, it has been held by this Court as follows:- We agree with the above reasoning of the Calcutta High Court, in so far as it has been held that so long as the ingredients of Section 147 are fulfilled, the Assessing Officer is free to initiate reassessment proceedings and failure to take steps under Section 143(2) will not render the Assessing Officer powerless to initiate th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eeding under section 147 and failure to take steps under section 143(3) will not render the Assessing Officer powerless to initiate reassessment proceedings even when intimation under section 143(1) had been issued. The view taken by us, in the present appeal is in consonance of the judgment in the case of Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax versus Rajesh Jhaveri Stock Brokers P. Ltd. (supra) holding that failure to take steps under section 143(3) will not render the Assessing Officer powerless to initiate reassessment proceedings even when intimation under section 143(1) had been issued. Having regard to what has been said above, we are of the opinion that the order of the Tribunal holding that the notice under Section 147 of the Act dated 4th July, 2006 is invalid is legally not correct. On a query put by the Court, learned counsel for the assessee accepts if the recourse to Section 143(3) would have been barred by time, there would have been no restriction to initiate the reassessment proceeding under Section 147 of the Act. We may add that there is nothing on the plain language of Section 143 of the Act which may suggest that the recourse to Section 147 can be had only ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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