Reassessment in the name of a non-existent amalgamated company is void ab initio and unsustainable

A reassessment initiated in the name of a non-existent amalgamated company is void ab initio, because a notice to an entity that has ceased to exist cannot confer jurisdiction and the resulting assessment is a nullity. That jurisdictional defect is not cured by later reliance on the same defective initiation. On the facts recorded, the transaction was reflected in the successor entity's return and no escapement of income was found, so the addition could not stand.

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Issues: Whether reassessment initiated and completed in the name of a non-existent amalgamated company was valid and whether the addition sustained on that basis could stand.

Analysis: The reassessment notice and consequent order were issued in the name of an entity that had already ceased to exist on account of amalgamation. A notice issued to a non-existent person cannot confer jurisdiction for reassessment, and an assessment framed in the name of such an entity is a nullity. The subsequent reliance on the same defective initiation did not cure the foundational jurisdictional defect. The appellate authority had also found that the transaction was reflected in the return of the successor entity and that there was no escapement of income on the facts recorded.

Conclusion: The reassessment was invalid for want of jurisdiction and the deletion of the addition was upheld in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A reassessment initiated in the name of a non-existent amalgamated company is void ab initio and cannot be sustained as a curable procedural irregularity.

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