Unsigned draft assessment proposal is not an appealable order where statutory procedure under Section 144B is incomplete.

An unsigned draft assessment proposal forwarded by the ITO to the IAC under Section 144B did not amount to an appealable order. A forwarding letter signed by the ITO could not convert the draft into a formal order, because the statutory procedure had not yet culminated in a completed assessment order. On that basis, the appeal before the CIT(A) against the draft proposal was not maintainable, and the CIT(A) was not justified in entertaining it.

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Issues: Whether the CIT(A) was justified in entertaining an appeal against an unsigned draft order proposed by the ITO and forwarded to the IAC under Section 144B of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The proposed draft had not been signed by the ITO and was only a draft referred to the IAC for approval under Section 144B. A forwarding letter signed by the ITO did not convert the unsigned draft into an appealable order. Until a formal order was passed by the ITO after the statutory procedure, the draft proposal could not be treated as an order capable of appeal.

Conclusion: The CIT(A) was not justified in entertaining the appeal against the unsigned draft order, and the assessee's appeal before the CIT(A) was not maintainable.

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