Bombay High Court Validates That Section 153 Prevails Over Section 144C For Time Limit For Passing Final Assessment Order

Shelf Drilling Group companies had filed writ petitions¹ with the Bombay High Court (HC), pleading that the limitation under Section 153(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act) read with the notifications for relaxations issued had expired on 30 September 2021. Therefore, no final assessment order could be passed as the proceedings were time-barred, and in view thereof, the Return of Income as filed should be accepted.

Petitioner's Key Contentions

• The Honourable Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had passed its order on 4 October 2019 remanding the matter to the Assessing Officer (AO). Pursuant to this, the original time limit for the AO to pass the final order as given under Section 153(3) was 31 March 2021 (being 12 months from the end of the financial year in which the order was received). However, a relaxation was granted vide Notification no.10/2021 dated 27 February 2021. Therefore, the revised time limit for the AO to pass the final order was