Assessment on a non-existing entity is void and cannot be revised under section 263 when the original order lacks jurisdiction.

An assessment framed in the name of a dissolved, non-existing entity is a jurisdictional nullity and void in law, even where the succession to the business had been intimated with supporting documents. Because the foundational assessment order was non-est, it could not validly be brought within revisionary jurisdiction under section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The validity of the primary assessment could be examined in collateral revision proceedings, but where the original order lacked jurisdiction, the revisional order could not survive. The revision was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order passed in the name of a non-existing entity was void, and whether such a non-est assessment order could validly be revised under section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The assessee had intimated the dissolution of the firm and succession of the business to the company, along with supporting documents. Despite this, the assessment was framed in the name of the dissolved firm. A jurisdictional notice and the assessment order issued to a non-existing entity constitute a substantive illegality, and an order that is non-est in law cannot form the basis for revisionary action under section 263. The legality of the primary assessment order can be examined in collateral revision proceedings, and where the foundational assessment itself lacks jurisdiction, the revisional order cannot survive.

Conclusion: The assessment order being passed in the name of a non-existing entity was void, and the assumption of jurisdiction under section 263 was invalid. The revision order was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment framed against a non-existing entity is a jurisdictional nullity, and such a non-est order cannot be revised under section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

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