Co-terminus appellate powers permit a first appellate authority...

Co-terminus appellate powers permit a first appellate authority to remit a matter for fresh factual verification where the assessment was made ex parte and substantial documentary evidence, including ledger accounts, invoices, gate passes, weighment slips, financial statements, audit report and bank statements, requires examination. The Tribunal upheld the remand for denovo adjudication because proper verification of the sales transactions was necessary and no prejudice to the Revenue was shown. It also held that notice under section 143(2) is a mandatory precondition for a valid reassessment after a return is filed in response to section 148, and that section 292BB cannot cure a complete absence of such notice. The reassessment was therefore void and the addition was deleted.

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