Reopening & Reassessment on the same grounds already examined under Section 147 is quashed by Delhi HC
The Delhi HC has again Invalidated the Reassessment under Sections 148 and 148A(d) Based on Rehashed Grounds Already Examined under Section 147
The Delhi High Court in Sarika Kansal v. ACIT quashed a reassessment notice under Sections 148 and 148A(d) for AY 2017–18. The Court held that the Income Tax Department had attempted to reopen a case on the same grounds already examined under Section 147.
The petitioner had sold 1,70,000 shares of Trustline Real Estate Pvt. Ltd., which owned only two floors of a property in Friends Colony. The AO had previously scrutinized the valuation and accepted the petitioner’s explanation, passing an order accepting the returned income on 29.03.2022.
Despite this, the AO issued a fresh notice in March 2024, alleging that TREPL owned the entire property and recalculated the capital gains based on the circle rate, increasing the supposed income escapement from ₹18.91 crore to ₹32.35 crore.
The Court noted that the AO relied on the same documents furnished earlier and ignored the petitioner’s clarification. There was no fresh tangible material, and the assumption that TREPL owned the whole property was not backed by evidence.
Holding the reassessment order as speculative and contrary to Section 148A(d), the Court set aside both the notice and the order. It reaffirmed that reassessments cannot be reopened on re-examined grounds without new and credible information.
The copy of the order is as under:
