Reassessment notice issued beyond the surviving limitation period under TOLA and Ashish Agarwal is time-barred and invalid.

The respondent Assessing Officer (AO) initially issued a reassessment notice dated 30.06.2021 under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for the Assessment Year 2016-17) during the extended period provided by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 (TOLA)

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in *Ashish Agarwal*, this notice was treated as a show-cause notice under Section 148A(b)

Information was provided to the petitioner on 20.05.2022, and the petitioner filed a reply on 03.06.2022

Subsequently, the AO passed an order under Section 148A(d) on 14.07.2022 and issued a new notice under Section 148 on 28.07.2022

The petitioner challenged this notice as being barred by limitation

Whether the notice issued under Section 148 dated 28.07.2022 was invalid and time-barred under the "surviving time" framework established by the Supreme Court

The court applied the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in *Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal* [(2022) 444 ITR 1 (SC)], which converted old-regime notices into new-regime show-cause notices

It further relied on the definitive ruling in *Union of India v. Rajeev Bansal* [(2024) 469 ITR 46 (SC)], which established the "surviving time" doctrine

Under this doctrine, any time remaining to issue a notice under the original limitation period (supplemented by TOLA) must be calculated to determine the validity of the final Section 148 notice

The court also referred to its own precedent in *Dhanraj Govindram Kella v. Income Tax Officer* (SCA No. 6387 of 2023), which clarified that notices issued beyond this surviving period are void

The court calculated the "surviving time" available to the Revenue to issue the reassessment notice.

Based on the date of the original TOLA notice (30.06.2021), the court determined that the limitation for issuing a notice under Section 148—after accounting for the period of stay and reply time mandated by *Ashish Agarwal*—expired on 11.06.2022

The court observed that the Revenue passed the order under Section 148A(d) on 14.07.2022 and issued the impugned Section 148 notice on 28.07.2022

Since the issuance date (28.07.2022) was significantly later than the final limitation date (11.06.2022), the court held that the notice was issued outside the surviving period

The Senior Standing Counsel for the Revenue could not controvert these dates

Consequently, the High Court quashed and set aside the order dated 14.07.2022, the notice dated 28.07.2022, and all consequential proceedings

Rule was made absolute