Jurisdictional defect in assessment orders: Additional Commissioner lacked valid authorisation, so the order was held void ab initio.

A pure legal objection to the validity of the assessment order could be raised as an additional ground at the appellate stage because it went to the root of jurisdiction and required no fresh evidence. The assessee's jurisdictional challenge was also accepted on merits: an Additional Commissioner could exercise Assessing Officer powers only if validly authorised under the statutory scheme, and the notifications relied on by the Revenue were found insufficient in the absence of a valid order under section 120(4)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The assessment order was therefore treated as without jurisdiction and void ab initio, with the assessee succeeding and the Revenue's connected appeals dismissed.

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Issues: (i) Whether the assessee's additional ground challenging the validity of the assessment order on a pure question of law could be admitted at the appellate stage. (ii) Whether the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax had jurisdiction to pass the assessment order in the absence of valid authorization under the Act, and whether the assessment order was therefore liable to be quashed.

Issue (i): Whether the assessee's additional ground challenging the validity of the assessment order on a pure question of law could be admitted at the appellate stage.

Analysis: The additional ground went to the root of the validity of the assessment order and did not require fresh evidence. The same jurisdictional objection had been admitted and decided in earlier appeals involving the assessee and its group concerns, and the objection of belatedness was rejected on the ground that the issue was purely legal.

Conclusion: The additional ground was rightly admitted and considered on merits.

Issue (ii): Whether the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax had jurisdiction to pass the assessment order in the absence of valid authorization under the Act, and whether the assessment order was therefore liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The Court followed earlier co-ordinate bench decisions holding that an Additional Commissioner could exercise the powers of an Assessing Officer only if duly empowered under the relevant statutory scheme. The notifications relied upon by the Revenue were examined and found insufficient to confer the required authority in the absence of a valid order under section 120(4)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the contrary reliance placed on other precedents was distinguished on facts.

Conclusion: The assessment order was passed without jurisdiction and was void ab initio, and the assessee succeeded on the jurisdictional challenge.

Final Conclusion: The appeals succeeded on the core jurisdictional issue, the assessee's appeals were allowed, and the Revenue's connected appeals were dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment order passed by an Additional Commissioner without a valid statutory order authorizing the exercise of Assessing Officer powers is without jurisdiction and liable to be annulled.

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