Jurisdictional defect in assessment order cannot be cured on appeal; Tribunal cannot validate a void assessment.

An assessment made by an officer lacking jurisdiction after transfer of the assessee's case under a CBDT notification was treated as fundamentally void. The court noted that such a jurisdictional defect cannot be cured, validated, or given legal support through appellate proceedings, and the Tribunal cannot examine the merits of an order that is inherently without jurisdiction. On that basis, the appeal before the Tribunal was held not maintainable, and the jurisdictional challenge succeeded in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether an appeal could be maintained before the Appellate Tribunal against an assessment order passed by an assessing officer who had no jurisdiction over the assessee, and whether the Tribunal could examine the merits of such an order.

Analysis: The jurisdiction over the assessee had earlier shifted pursuant to the CBDT notification, yet the assessment was made by an officer who no longer had jurisdiction. An order passed without jurisdiction was treated as a fundamental defect incapable of being validated or revived through appellate proceedings. In such circumstances, the appellate forum could not proceed to the merits or confer legal support on an order inherently void for want of jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The appeal was not maintainable in the Tribunal, and the challenge based on the jurisdictional defect succeeded in favour of the assessee.

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