Income Tax Act | Delhi High Court Sets Aside Reassessment Against MakeMyTrip Over ₹50 Crore Receipt, Cites Vague S.148A Notices
The Delhi High Court has set aside reassessment proceedings initiated against MakeMyTrip India Pvt. Ltd., holding that the notices issued under Section 148A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 were unreasoned.A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar allowed the writ petition filed by the company, which had challenged the reassessment action relating to an alleged unexplained...
The Delhi High Court has set aside reassessment proceedings initiated against MakeMyTrip India Pvt. Ltd., holding that the notices issued under Section 148A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 were unreasoned.
A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar allowed the writ petition filed by the company, which had challenged the reassessment action relating to an alleged unexplained receipt of over ₹50 crore, purportedly arising from information obtained during a search conducted in the case of a third party.
The company gave replies to the notices issued under Section 148A(1), specifying the reasons/manner of receipt of Rs.11,00,80,752/-and Rs.39,27,95,754/- but the same, it was argued, were not considered by the Assessing Officer (AO) while passing the orders under Section 148A(3) of the Act.
It was argued that Section 148A(1) itself contemplates that the notice to show cause shall be accompanied by the information, which suggest that the income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment.
Accepting the submission, the High Court held,
“on a perusal of the orders passed under Section 148A(3) of the Act the same does not reveal the grounds/reasons on which the AO has disagreed with the replies filed by the petitioner, to issue notices under Section 148 of the Act. The same being devoid of reasons more particularly, considering the stand taken by the petitioner in its replies to notices under Section 148A(1) of the Act, the orders under Section 148A(3) dated 29.06.2025; the notices issued under Section 148 of the same date have to be held as unsustainable.”
It thus set aside the reassessment action and remanded the matter back to the AO.
The Court further directed the AO to give the information which he intends to rely upon while deciding notices under Section 148A(1) of the Act.
Appearance: Mr Sachit Jolly, Sr Advocate with Mr Abhyudaya Shankar Bajpai, Mr Sohum Dua, Ms Manvi and Ms. Ghunaim Siddiqui, Advocates for Petitioner; Mr Siddhartha Sinha, SSC and Ms Easha Gurung, JSC for Respondents
Case title: Makemytrip India Private Limited v. Deputy Commissioner Of Income Tax Circle 16 1 Delhi & Anr
Case no.: W.P.(C) 19288/2025