Section 270AA is specific to immunity from imposition of penalty and prosecution. Under ss.(1) the assessee would make application to AO and upfront make payment of tax and interest without having to prefer an appeal against the assessment order. The AO after affording opportunity to the assessee shall either accept or reject such application within the prescribed period. Importantly sub-section (5) says that the order made under sub-section (4) accepting or rejecting the application shall be FINAL.
Now whether such an order can be called into question by any Court or any other authority is something that is not so specifically mentioned unlike in ss.(5) of section 273A which states “ every order made under this section shall be final and shall not be called into question by any court or any other authority”
Now whether it is possible to read the opposite of the words “shall not be called into question by any court or any other authority” as mentioned in ss.(5) of section 273A in section 270AA is something that may have to be considered someday based on legislative intent of the two sections.
In the meantime the Delhi high court in [2022] 20 ITR-OL 483 (Del) granted immunity under section 270AA of the Act to the petitioner who assailed the rejection order before the Court. In this case the penalty was initiated consequent to increase in the disallowance u/s14A voluntarily estimated by the assessee.