Assessment on a non-existent amalgamating company is void; section 292B cannot cure the jurisdictional defect.

An assessment or jurisdictional notice issued in the name of a dissolved amalgamating company is a nullity where the company had ceased to exist on amalgamation and dissolution. The defect goes to the root of jurisdiction and is not a mere clerical mistake, omission, or descriptive error capable of cure under section 292B of the Income-tax Act. Awareness of the dissolution by the Assessing Officer, and participation by the successor, do not validate proceedings against a non-existent entity. The legal identity of the person chargeable must be correctly identified for valid assessment.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders framed in the name of a dissolved amalgamating company were void, and whether the defect could be treated as a curable mistake under section 292B of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The assessment proceedings were initiated and completed in the name of an entity that had ceased to exist upon amalgamation and dissolution. The record showed that the Assessing Officer was aware of the dissolution, yet the jurisdictional notice and assessment were issued against the non-existent company. In such a situation, the defect went to the root of jurisdiction and was not a mere mistake, defect, or omission within the meaning of section 292B. The precedents on non-existent entities and amalgamation supported the view that participation by the successor does not cure the invalidity, and that assessment must conform to the legal identity of the person chargeable.

Conclusion: The assessment orders were invalid and rightly quashed; the Revenue's challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The dismissal of the Revenue's appeals left intact the finding that proceedings cannot validly continue against a company that had already ceased to exist, and that such a jurisdictional defect is not cured by descriptive references or subsequent participation.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment or jurisdictional notice issued to a non-existent amalgamating company is a nullity, and section 292B cannot validate such a substantive jurisdictional defect.

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