The Himachal Pradesh High Court has allowed Nirdosh Bhushan to restart his legal challenge to reassessment steps following a Supreme Court order, signalling a new phase in the dispute over Section 147A of the Income Tax Act.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has reopened the door for Nirdosh Bhushan to challenge reassessment proceedings after the Supreme Court sent similar cases back to the High Courts for a fresh look. In doing so, the bench restored Bhushan’s writ petition to its original position and said he may return to court afresh on the same cause of action, including a challenge to Section 147A of the Income Tax Act, which now sits at the centre of the wider reassessment dispute. (indiankanoon.org)
Bhushan had originally questioned an order under Section 148A(d) and the subsequent notice under Section 148, while also disputing the sanction under Section 151 and the later steps taken by the tax authorities. The High Court had earlier kept the matter in abeyance because the legal issue was already pending before the Supreme Court and had stayed further proceedings to avoid parallel litigation. (indiankanoon.org)
That position changed after the Supreme Court’s April 10, 2026 order in Income Tax Officer v. Tej Partap Singh. According to the apex court, the Finance Act, 2026 introduced Section 147A with retrospective effect from April 1, 2021, clarifying that the relevant assessing officer for Sections 148 and 148A is one other than the National Faceless Assessment Centre or a faceless assessment unit. The court said taxpayers should be allowed to amend their writ petitions and raise constitutional and statutory objections to the new provision before the jurisdictional High Courts, while keeping reassessment proceedings on hold in the meantime. (indiankanoon.org)
Following that ruling, the Revenue asked the Himachal Pradesh High Court to recall its earlier order. The court agreed, revived the matter procedurally and then closed the petition with liberty to approach it again on the same controversy and to mount a fresh challenge to Section 147A if so advised. The bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel and Justice Yogesh Jaswal also said the interim protection already granted to Bhushan would continue for 90 days, after which it would lapse if no new petition was filed. (taxtmi.com)
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