ITAT · Bangalore Bench2025§143(3)
ITAT Bangalore on CBDT Instruction 20/2015: assessment without the mandatory show-cause notice is void
Is an assessment valid if no show-cause notice preceded the variation?
No. An order passed without the show-cause notice mandated by CBDT Instruction 20/2015 is legally invalid, a gross violation of natural justice.
Published 2026-07-07
Facts in brief
- An assessment order was passed without issuing the prior show-cause notice required by CBDT Instruction No. 20/2015 before finalising a variation in income.
Issue before the bench
Whether the missing SCN is a curable procedural defect.
Held
The failure is not curable: the assessment and the additions made in it were quashed in toto.
Practitioner takeaway
Every reply to a draft order should record, in writing, whether an SCN was served and on what date. The procedural log is the appeal.
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