https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=788245 The dispute concerns the mandatory prior approval requirement for draft assessments under the tax statute and whether a single common approval covering multiple assessment years amounted to a mechanical, non reasoned grant. The Tribunal applied the principle that prior approval must record an independent application of mind for each assessment year and found the approval was ritualistic and identical across numerous cases, thereby vitiating the consequential assessment framed under the search proceedings procedure. The mechanical nature of the approval led to quashment of the assessment and dismissal of the Revenue appeal in favour of the assessee. en-us Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 14 Mar 2026 11:02:10 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=788245 The dispute concerns the mandatory prior approval requirement for draft assessments under the tax statute and whether a single common approval covering multiple assessment years amounted to a mechanical, non reasoned grant. The Tribunal applied the principle that prior approval must record an independent application of mind for each assessment year and found the approval was ritualistic and identical across numerous cases, thereby vitiating the consequential assessment framed under the search proceedings procedure. The mechanical nature of the approval led to quashment of the assessment and dismissal of the Revenue appeal in favour of the assessee. Case-Laws Income Tax Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=788245