Draft assessment procedure under section 144B held valid, preserving extended limitation for completing assessment.

Section 144B was held applicable where the Income-tax Officer had concurrent jurisdiction with the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner under section 125A and proposed a variation exceeding the statutory threshold. The draft assessment procedure was therefore properly adopted, and the extended time for completing the assessment remained available. The Tribunal was held wrong to treat the assessment as bad in law or time-barred, and the reference was answered in favour of the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the procedure under section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was inapplicable where the Income-tax Officer had concurrent jurisdiction with the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner under section 125A, and whether the assessment was therefore barred by limitation.

Analysis: The court followed its earlier decision holding that section 144B(7) was not attracted in a case where the Income-tax Officer, having concurrent jurisdiction with the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner under section 125A, proposed to make a variation in income exceeding Rs. 1,00,000. In such a situation, the draft assessment procedure under section 144B was rightly adopted and the extended period for completing assessment remained available.

Conclusion: The reference was answered in the negative, holding that the Tribunal was not right in treating the assessment as bad in law or time-barred; the issue was decided in favour of the Revenue and against the assessee.

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