Reassessment sanction by the wrong authority made reopening invalid and left the assessment without jurisdiction.

Reassessment under section 147 was held invalid because, for a notice issued within four years from the end of the assessment year, section 151(2) required approval from the Joint Commissioner. The recorded sanction was instead obtained from the Principal Commissioner, and compliance with the prescribed approving authority was treated as mandatory. The challenge based on CBDT scrutiny instructions failed because such instructions could not cure the jurisdictional defect in the reopening. The reassessment was therefore without valid jurisdiction, and the assessment order was quashed.

---

---

Issues: Whether reassessment under section 147 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was valid when approval for issuance of notice under section 148 was granted by an authority higher than the authority specified under section 151 for the relevant period.

Analysis: The notice under section 148 was issued within four years from the end of the assessment year, so the approval contemplated by section 151(2) was required from the Joint Commissioner. The recorded reasons showed that sanction was instead obtained from the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax. The statutory requirement having to be satisfied in the manner prescribed was treated as mandatory. The challenge based on CBDT scrutiny instructions was rejected, since that instruction did not override the legal defect in the sanction for reopening.

Conclusion: The approval for reopening was invalid, the reassessment assumed without valid jurisdiction, and the assessment order was quashed. The appeal was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: When the statute prescribes approval for reassessment by a specified authority, sanction by a different authority does not cure the jurisdictional defect and the reopening is invalid.

---