Draft assessment order procedure mandatory; final assessments passed in breach of it were quashed as void ab initio.

Where an eligible assessee is required to receive a draft assessment order before finalisation, direct issuance of final assessment orders without following that statutory procedure renders the assessments invalid. The Tribunal applied the binding Delhi High Court ruling in the assessee's own case and held that, despite the DRP's earlier directions requiring fresh consideration of the non-BAPA issues, the Assessing Officer could not bypass the draft-order stage. The final assessment orders for both assessment years were therefore quashed as void ab initio, and the remaining grounds were left open as academic.

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Issues: Whether the final assessment orders for the two assessment years were liable to be quashed for failure to first pass draft assessment orders under the statutory scheme.

Analysis: The assessment orders were passed against an eligible assessee without issuance of draft assessment orders. The prior directions of the Dispute Resolution Panel had treated the pending proceedings as infructuous and required fresh consideration of the non-BAPA issues, but the Assessing Officer nevertheless proceeded directly to finalise the assessments. The Tribunal followed the binding Delhi High Court decision in the assessee's own case and held that, in such circumstances, compliance with the draft-assessment procedure is mandatory. A final assessment passed in breach of that procedure is invalid in law and cannot stand.

Conclusion: The final assessment orders for both years were quashed as void ab initio, and the other grounds were left open as academic.

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