https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=347916 The court held that final assessment orders issued without a draft assessment order under Section 144C of the Income Tax Act were void. It emphasized the mandatory nature of Section 144C(1) and rejected arguments that the requirement could be bypassed after remand proceedings. Section 292B could not cure the defect of not issuing a draft assessment order, as it cannot confer jurisdiction where none exists. Non-compliance with Section 144C vitiates the final assessment order, providing the assessee with substantive rights. The court invalidated the final assessment orders for multiple assessment years due to the AO's failure to follow the mandatory procedure, setting them aside without costs. en-us Thu, 07 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 18 Nov 2017 14:11:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=347916 The court held that final assessment orders issued without a draft assessment order under Section 144C of the Income Tax Act were void. It emphasized the mandatory nature of Section 144C(1) and rejected arguments that the requirement could be bypassed after remand proceedings. Section 292B could not cure the defect of not issuing a draft assessment order, as it cannot confer jurisdiction where none exists. Non-compliance with Section 144C vitiates the final assessment order, providing the assessee with substantive rights. The court invalidated the final assessment orders for multiple assessment years due to the AO's failure to follow the mandatory procedure, setting them aside without costs. Case-Laws Income Tax Thu, 07 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=347916