Jurisdictional defect in reassessment notice under section 148 renders the notice invalid and the proceedings void ab initio.

A notice under section 148 issued by an Assessing Officer who had already ceased to have jurisdiction over the assessee was invalid because the reassessment machinery under sections 2(7A) and 120 requires the notice to be issued by the officer vested with jurisdiction. The defect was not a mere irregularity but went to the root of the proceedings, so reassessment founded on such a notice could not be sustained. The notice was held void ab initio and the reassessment proceedings failed on the jurisdictional challenge.

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Issues: Whether a notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 issued by an Assessing Officer who had ceased to have jurisdiction over the assessee was valid, and whether reassessment proceedings founded on such notice could be sustained.

Analysis: The original assessment jurisdiction had shifted to another Assessing Officer before the notice under section 148 was issued. The statutory scheme requires a notice under section 148 to be issued by the Assessing Officer vested with jurisdiction within the meaning of section 2(7A) read with section 120 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Where the notice is issued by an officer lacking such jurisdiction, the defect is not a mere irregularity but goes to the root of the reassessment proceedings. The reassessment was thus based on an illegal notice and could not survive.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was invalid and the reassessment proceedings were void ab initio; the assessee succeeded on the jurisdictional challenge.

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