Jurisdictional challenge to assessment admitted first time before Tribunal; lack of authorisation by Additional Commissioner invalidated the order.

A jurisdictional objection to an assessment order was treated as a pure question of law and admitted for the first time before the Tribunal because the relevant material was already on record and no fresh factual enquiry was needed. The Tribunal further held that an Additional Commissioner can act as an Assessing Officer only when lawful authorisation under section 120(4)(b) is established, and where required, transfer under section 127 is shown; as the Revenue produced no such order despite specific request, references in the assessment papers were insufficient and the assessment was held without jurisdiction.

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Issues: (i) Whether additional grounds challenging the jurisdiction of the Additional Commissioner to pass the assessment order could be admitted for the first time before the Tribunal; (ii) Whether the assessment order passed by the Additional Commissioner was without jurisdiction for want of authorisation under section 120(4)(b) and transfer under section 127.

Issue (i): Whether additional grounds challenging the jurisdiction of the Additional Commissioner to pass the assessment order could be admitted for the first time before the Tribunal.

Analysis: The jurisdictional objection was treated as a pure question of law going to the root of the assessment. The relevant facts were already part of the assessment record, and no fresh factual investigation was required. The objection that the ground was raised belatedly or not before the lower authorities did not bar its admission, since legal issues affecting tax liability can be raised before the Tribunal where the material is on record.

Conclusion: The additional grounds were admitted.

Issue (ii): Whether the assessment order passed by the Additional Commissioner was without jurisdiction for want of authorisation under section 120(4)(b) and transfer under section 127.

Analysis: Under section 2(7A), an Additional Commissioner can function as an Assessing Officer only when duly directed under section 120(4)(b). Where jurisdiction is challenged, the Revenue must place the authorising order on record. The Tribunal found that no order under section 120(4)(b) or section 127 was produced despite specific requests, and the mere references in intimation letters and the assessment order were insufficient to prove lawful jurisdiction. The objection based on limitation under section 124(3) was held inapplicable to a challenge that the action was wholly without authority of law.

Conclusion: The assessment order was held to be without jurisdiction and was set aside.

Final Conclusion: The assessee's appeal succeeded because the impugned assessment was quashed for lack of jurisdiction, and the Revenue's appeal failed as a consequence.

Ratio Decidendi: A jurisdictional challenge to an assessment order is a pure question of law that may be raised before the Tribunal for the first time if the relevant material is already on record, and an order passed by an Additional Commissioner is invalid unless lawful authorisation under section 120(4)(b) and, where required, transfer under section 127 are established by the Revenue.

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