Assessment on a non-existent amalgamating company is void; jurisdictional objection may be raised before the Tribunal on record facts.

A jurisdictional objection to an assessment framed on a non-existent amalgamating company can be raised for the first time before the Tribunal when the relevant facts are already on record, and the additional ground was admitted. An assessment made in the name of a company that had ceased to exist on amalgamation is a substantive illegality and void in law; the curative mistake provision and succession rules did not validate it, so the assessment was quashed.

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Issues: (i) whether the additional ground challenging the assessment as framed on a non-existent company was admissible; (ii) whether the assessment framed in the name of the amalgamating company was valid in law.

Issue (i): whether the additional ground challenging the assessment as framed on a non-existent company was admissible

Analysis: The challenge was jurisdictional in nature and went to the root of the assessment. The relevant facts regarding amalgamation and the notices on record were already available before the lower authorities. A jurisdictional objection can be raised for the first time before the Tribunal when it is supported by the record.

Conclusion: The additional ground was admitted.

Issue (ii): whether the assessment framed in the name of the amalgamating company was valid in law

Analysis: The company had already ceased to exist on account of amalgamation with effect from 01.04.2012, yet the draft and final assessment orders were passed in its name. An assessment made on a non-existent entity is a substantive illegality and is not saved by the curative provision relating to mistakes or omissions. The succession provisions also did not validate the assessment made on the dissolved entity.

Conclusion: The assessment was held to be void and invalid.

Final Conclusion: The assessment was quashed and the assessee's appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment framed in the name of a non-existent amalgamating company is a substantive illegality and is void, and such a jurisdictional defect can be raised for the first time before the Tribunal when the material facts are already on record.

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