Your Section 148 Notice Came From a JAO. Is It Void?

Not safely, and not yet. Section 151A and the e-Assessment of Income Escaping Assessment Scheme of 29 March 2022 route Section 148 notices through the faceless system. In Kankanala Ravindra Reddy and later cases, the Telangana High Court held that notices issued directly by a Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO), not in the faceless manner, were invalid, and other High Courts, including Bombay in Hexaware Technologies, took the same line. The Supreme Court dismissed one Revenue appeal from Telangana without laying down a reasoned rule. The Delhi High Court took the opposite view, that jurisdictional and faceless officers both have power.

Then the law changed. The Finance Act 2026, enacted on 30 March 2026, added Section 147A, retrospective from 1 April 2021, to validate notices issued by jurisdictional officers, notwithstanding any court ruling. On 10 April 2026 the Supreme Court set aside the High Court rulings that had quashed such notices and sent them back to be reheard in light of it. The Punjab and Haryana High Court struck Section 147A down in September 2026. On 18 September 2026 the Supreme Court stayed that judgment, on condition that assessment and reassessment proceedings in the cases before it do not go further until it decides, and listed the matter for final hearing on 3 December 2026.

So today a JAO-issued notice is neither confirmed valid nor confirmed void. The faceless objection is live, but only if it is raised on record.

NRIs get a lot of Section 148 reassessment notices. The triggers are usually:

For years, these notices were issued by the "International Tax" range JAO in Delhi or Mumbai, not through the faceless NFAC system. The department's position was that international tax cases needed specialist JAO handling and were carved out of the faceless scheme.

Several High Courts disagreed, finding no carve-out in Section 151A for international tax. If your 148 notice came from a JAO's office and not via NFAC, several High Courts would have called it void. Section 147A now says otherwise, and the Supreme Court will decide which view holds.

Look at the notice itself. Two things tell you if it was JAO-issued or NFAC-issued:

**The issuing authority.** A NFAC-issued notice will explicitly reference the "Faceless Assessment Scheme" and the NFAC system. A JAO notice will name a specific officer and a physical range, "Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax, International Taxation, Circle X, Mumbai" or similar.

**The DIN (Document Identification Number).** Every valid notice carries a DIN. The notice header and the signing officer are the more reliable tell of who issued it; your CA can check both.

If your notice was issued by a JAO directly, you may have a procedural objection, but its fate now rests on the Supreme Court's decision on Section 147A. The right move is to raise the Section 151A faceless objection on record: in your reply to the Section 148A show-cause notice if you are at that stage, in your response to the Section 148 notice itself, or in a writ petition to the High Court, so it is preserved whichever way the Supreme Court rules.

Don't just ignore the notice. That's not how it works. You have to raise the jurisdictional objection in the reply or via a writ. Silence doesn't cancel the notice. The Supreme Court's order is about whether Section 147A is valid; it does not cancel your notice or extend the reply date printed on it. Treat that date as live and let a CA confirm what, if anything, is paused in your case.

Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 tightened the reassessment time limits. Effective 1 September 2024:

The 10-year window is gone. Any notice trying to reopen an assessment year that's more than 5 years old (for big cases) or 3 years old (for smaller cases) is time-barred.

So two defences stack:

1. Is the notice within the revised time limit under Finance Act 2024?

2. Was the notice issued through the faceless mechanism under Section 151A?

A "no" to the first ends the notice on time-bar grounds. A "no" to the second is an objection to keep on record until the Supreme Court decides the Section 147A challenge.

**Don't panic. Don't ignore. Don't pay without checking.**

First, find the reply-by date printed on the notice. That deadline still runs.

Then forward the notice PDF to us, and we'll tell you:

1. Whether it was NFAC or JAO issued

2. Whether it's within the current Finance Act 2024 time limits

3. Where your notice stands while the Supreme Court decides the Section 147A challenge

4. What the best next step is: a reply to the notice, a writ petition to the High Court, or a negotiated resolution

Under Section 288, our CA can become your Authorized Representative. We reply on the portal, appear at any hearings, and file the writ if needed. You don't touch the e-filing portal and you don't fly to India.