Assessment on a non-existent amalgamated company is void ab initio and cannot be saved by section 292B.

An assessment made in the name of a company that had ceased to exist after amalgamation was held to be without jurisdiction where the merger had already been intimated to the tax authorities before the final order. Once the Assessing Officer was aware of the amalgamation, the assessment had to be framed in the name of the amalgamated entity. An order passed against a non-existent company is a jurisdictional defect, not a mere procedural irregularity, and it is not cured by participation in the proceedings or by section 292B. The assessment was therefore void ab initio.

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Issues: Whether the assessment framed in the name of a company that had ceased to exist upon amalgamation, after the amalgamation had been intimated to the Assessing Officer, was valid in law.

Analysis: The amalgamation of the assessee with the successor company had been sanctioned by the High Court with effect from the appointed date, and the tax authorities were informed of the merger before the final assessment order was passed. Once the amalgamation was brought to the notice of the Assessing Officer, the assessment ought to have been framed in the name of the amalgamated entity. An order passed in the name of a non-existent entity is a jurisdictional defect, not a mere procedural irregularity, and cannot be sustained. The defect is not cured by participation in the proceedings or by section 292B.

Conclusion: The assessment order was invalid and void ab initio as it was passed in the name of a non-existing entity; the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment framed against a company that has ceased to exist due to amalgamation, after due intimation of the merger to the tax authorities, is without jurisdiction and void ab initio, and the defect cannot be cured as a mere procedural irregularity.

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