Gazette publication as jurisdictional trigger under Chapter XX-A is mandatory; defects in later notice service do not defeat proceedings.

Under Chapter XX-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, publication of notice in the Official Gazette under section 269D(1) is the operative step that initiates acquisition proceedings and confers jurisdiction on the Competent Authority. Notices under section 269D(2), including service on the transferor, transferee, occupants and other interested persons, are procedural and supplementary; defects in their service do not invalidate a valid initiation under section 269D(1). A transferee who has been personally served cannot challenge the proceedings on the ground that some other interested person was not served, because that objection belongs only to the person entitled to that notice.

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Issues: (i) Whether proceedings for acquisition of immovable property under Chapter XX-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 are validly initiated and jurisdiction is assumed upon publication of notice in the Official Gazette under section 269D(1), or only upon service and publication of notices under section 269D(2); (ii) Whether a transferee who has been personally served can challenge the acquisition proceedings on the ground that notices were not served on other persons interested in the property.

Issue (i): Whether proceedings for acquisition of immovable property under Chapter XX-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 are validly initiated and jurisdiction is assumed upon publication of notice in the Official Gazette under section 269D(1), or only upon service and publication of notices under section 269D(2).

Analysis: The statutory scheme treats publication in the Official Gazette under section 269D(1) as the operative step for initiation of acquisition proceedings. The notices contemplated by section 269D(2), including service on the transferor, transferee, occupants and other persons interested, are supplementary and procedural. They are intended to inform concerned persons and to accompany a valid initiation already made by Gazette publication, but they do not constitute jurisdictional facts. A defect in compliance with section 269D(2) therefore does not nullify the initiation or deprive the Competent Authority of jurisdiction once section 269D(1) has been complied with.

Conclusion: The issue is answered in favour of the Revenue. Initiation and assumption of jurisdiction are complete upon publication of notice in the Official Gazette under section 269D(1), and non-compliance with section 269D(2) does not vitiate the proceedings.

Issue (ii): Whether a transferee who has been personally served can challenge the acquisition proceedings on the ground that notices were not served on other persons interested in the property.

Analysis: The right to complain of non-service of a statutory notice ordinarily belongs to the person on whom service was required to be effected and who was not served. A third party cannot ordinarily invoke another person's non-service to defeat proceedings. Applying that principle, a transferee who has been duly served cannot object to the omission to serve some other interested person. Non-service on one among several interested persons may affect that person's individual right to be heard, but it does not invalidate the entire proceeding at the instance of a served transferee.

Conclusion: The issue is answered in favour of the Revenue. Only the person aggrieved by non-service under section 269D(2)(a) can complain of it, and the duly served transferee cannot assail the proceedings on the ground of non-service on tenants or other interested persons.

Final Conclusion: The legal questions were decided against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue, while the matter was directed to proceed before the Division Bench for decision on the remaining merits issues.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 269D of the Income-tax Act, 1961, Gazette publication under sub-section (1) is the jurisdiction-conferring act for initiation of acquisition proceedings, and non-service of notice on some other interested person under sub-section (2) can be complained of only by the person who was entitled to receive that notice.

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