Any reassessment before being initiated has to run through a preliminary inquiry and an order is to be made in this regard u/s 148A and to be served on the assessee along with notice u/s 148.
It is a good old law that an appeal is a creature of statute and an assessee has a right of appeal only if there is a statutory provision for it. Now whether an appeal is maintainable against order u/s 148A is a one question that is remaining to be answered in the budget.
The existing expression u/s 246A ‘an order against the assessee, where the assessee denies his liability to be assessed under this Act’ in the list of appealable orders might provide straight remedy of appeal against such order u/s148A.
The Allahabad High Court in [1980] 121 ITR 708 (All) held that ‘what is meant by the expression “the assessee denies his liability to be assessed under this Act” is that the assessee contends that he is not liable to be assessed under any provision of the Act, or, in other words, he is not “liable to be subjected to any part of the procedure laid down in the Act for imposing liability to tax”. The denial should be against being subject to the whole procedure for ascertaining and imposing liability on the taxpayer.” The SC in [2019] 419 ITR 440 (SC) held that the expression “denies his liability to be assessed” is quite comprehensive and takes within its fold not only total denial of liability but also where the assessee denies his liability to be assessed under particular circumstances under the Act.