Post-omission jurisdiction under the compounded levy scheme fails where enabling provisions are gone without a saving clause.

Proceedings and consequential orders under the compounded levy scheme were unsustainable once Rule 96ZQ, Rule 96ZP, Rule 96ZO and Section 3A had been omitted, because the enabling provisions no longer conferred authority and no saving clause preserved pending action. The Tribunal held that post-omission initiation or continuation of such proceedings was without jurisdiction and void, and that this jurisdictional defect could be raised at any stage because an order passed without authority cannot be cured by waiver or consent. The assessee's challenge succeeded and the Revenue's appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether proceedings and consequential orders passed after the omission of Rule 96ZQ, Rule 96ZP, Rule 96ZO and Section 3A could be sustained in law.

Analysis: The proceedings were based on the compounded levy scheme under Section 3A and the related rules governing annual capacity of production. The controlling reasoning was that the enabling provisions had already been omitted, and there was no saving clause preserving the power to initiate or conclude pending proceedings thereafter. The jurisdictional objection went to the root of the matter and could be raised even at a later stage, because an order passed without jurisdiction is a nullity and cannot be validated by waiver or consent.

Conclusion: The proceedings initiated or concluded after the omission of the enabling provisions were without authority of law and could not be sustained; the assessee's appeals succeeded and the Revenue's appeal failed.

Final Conclusion: The Tribunal set aside the impugned orders insofar as they rested on the omitted scheme and upheld the assessee's challenge on the ground that post-omission proceedings could not legally continue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory provisions conferring power have been omitted without a saving clause, proceedings initiated or concluded thereafter are without jurisdiction and void.

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