https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=768228 ITAT Delhi held that approval under Section 153D cannot be granted mechanically without proper application of mind by the authority. The court found that JCIT's approval was merely rubber stamping through endorsement on a list of cases without genuine consideration. Since Section 153D requires mandatory prior approval before passing assessment orders pursuant to search operations, the mechanical grant of approval vitiated the entire assessment proceedings. The assessment orders were declared void ab initio, rendering them infirm, illegal and bad in law. The impugned orders were quashed and assessee's appeals were allowed. en-us Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 03 Apr 2025 07:50:40 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=768228 ITAT Delhi held that approval under Section 153D cannot be granted mechanically without proper application of mind by the authority. The court found that JCIT's approval was merely rubber stamping through endorsement on a list of cases without genuine consideration. Since Section 153D requires mandatory prior approval before passing assessment orders pursuant to search operations, the mechanical grant of approval vitiated the entire assessment proceedings. The assessment orders were declared void ab initio, rendering them infirm, illegal and bad in law. The impugned orders were quashed and assessee's appeals were allowed. Case-Laws Income Tax Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=768228