Proceedings based on a show cause notice issued to a company...

Proceedings based on a show cause notice issued to a company that had already merged and ceased to exist are without jurisdiction, because a notice to a non-existent amalgamating entity cannot validly found recovery action. The note applies the principle from Maruti Suzuki and later Bombay HC decisions, stating that where the merger and dissolution were undisputed and communicated to the department, the consequential adjudication is void ab initio. It also records that merger provisions do not authorise notice to a post-merger non-existent entity, while leaving the tax demand open for any fresh proceedings otherwise permissible.

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