Inherent jurisdiction cannot be cured by participation or silence; a void assessment remains unenforceable despite no early objection.

An assessment made by an authority lacking inherent statutory jurisdiction is a nullity and cannot be validated by the assessee's participation, consent, waiver, or failure to object at the earliest stage. The distinction between a merely irregular assessment and one passed without jurisdiction is decisive: a patent lack of jurisdiction goes to the root of the matter and may be raised later, even if the statutory scheme contemplates earlier objection before the assessing authority. Procedural conduct and the availability of a remedy do not preserve an order that is void for want of jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether an assessment order passed by an authority lacking inherent jurisdiction could be sustained merely because the assessee did not raise a prior objection and participated in the assessment proceedings.

Analysis: Jurisdiction is created only by statute and cannot be conferred by consent, waiver, or acquiescence. A distinction was drawn between an order that is merely irregular or procedurally defective and an order passed without inherent jurisdiction. The scheme of the OVAT Rules required jurisdictional objections to be raised before the assessing authority, but a patent want of jurisdiction goes to the root of the matter and may be raised even at a later stage. Participation in the proceedings did not validate an assessment made by an officer who was not competent to make it, and the absence of an earlier objection did not cure the fundamental defect. At the same time, the conduct of the assessee and the availability of the statutory remedy were noted, but those considerations could not preserve an order that was void for want of jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The assessment order could not be sustained and was liable to be set aside. The challenge succeeded in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment made by an authority lacking inherent statutory jurisdiction is a nullity, and such defect is not cured by participation, consent, or failure to object at the earliest stage.

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