Jurisdictional tax assessments are a nullity and may be cancelled on revision without separate appeals in each year.

An assessment made on income outside the charging provision is a nullity, not a valid and final determination, and may be cancelled through revisional power under Section 33. On that basis, the Commissioner could not refuse relief merely because the assessee had not kept each later assessment alive by separate appeal or reference. The absence of a prescribed limitation period for Section 33 did not bar relief where the assessee approached the Commissioner within a reasonable time after the Privy Council ruling. The argument based on res judicata was rejected because the common legal issue had already been determined in the test case. The impugned assessments were therefore liable to be cancelled and the sums repaid.

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Issues: Whether the subsequent assessments made after the assessment year 1932-33, including the supplementary assessment for 1931-32, were void in light of the Privy Council decision; whether the Commissioner could refuse to exercise power under Section 33 to cancel those assessments and direct refund; and whether the assessee was required to keep each assessment alive by appeal or reference to obtain relief.

Analysis: The assessments were held to have been made on income which was outside the charging provision, and an assessment made without jurisdiction was treated as a nullity rather than as a valid and final assessment. On that footing, the Commissioner's power under Section 33 extended to cancelling the assessments and granting relief, and the absence of a separate appeal or reference in every year did not defeat the claim. The Court also held that no limitation period was prescribed for the exercise of Section 33 powers, and the assessee had moved the Commissioner within a reasonable time after the Privy Council decision. The reliance on res judicata and on the need to keep each assessment alive was rejected in the circumstances of a common legal issue already determined in the test case.

Conclusion: The Commissioner was not justified in refusing relief, and the assessee was entitled to have the impugned assessments cancelled and the sums repaid.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment made without jurisdiction is a nullity and may be annulled under the Commissioner's revisional power, without requiring the assessee to preserve each subsequent assessment by separate appeal or reference, where the claim is made within a reasonable time.

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