Mandatory compliance with section 144C was violated where the...

Mandatory compliance with section 144C was violated where the Assessing Officer issued a so-called draft assessment order while already determining taxable income and tax payable, issuing a demand notice and initiating penalty proceedings. The Tribunal held that these steps could occur only after a final assessment order, so the document was in substance a final order passed without the required draft procedure. This was a jurisdictional defect, not a mere procedural irregularity, and section 292B could not cure it. The final assessment order, demand notice and penalty notice were therefore quashed, and the assessee's cross objection was allowed.

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