1992 (9) TMI 19

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....n the circumstances of the case, the draft of the proposed assessment order forwarded by the Income-tax Officer to the assessee under section 144B(1) of the Income-tax Act which was not signed by the Income-tax Officer was a valid draft ?" By consent, the first question is reframed thus : "Whether, on the facts and circumstances of the case, the appeal filed by the assessee before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) was maintainable even though the assessee had not raised objection to the draft assessment order under section 144B ?" The draft unsigned assessment order dated January 30, 1979, for the assessment year 1976-77, was served on the assessee on March 31, 1979, as required under section 144B of the Income-tax Act ("the I. T.....

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.... be assessed under this Act or any order of assessment under sub-section (3) of section 143 or section 144, where the assessee objects to the amount of income assessed, or to the amount of tax determined, or to the amount of loss computed, or to the status under which he is assessed ; . . . . " The order passed by the Income-tax Officer was under section 143(3) though after following the mandatory procedure laid down in section 144B. Only because the procedure under section 144B was followed, the order does not cease to be one under section 143(3). After inserting section 144B, section 246(1)(a) was not amended. This clearly establishes that the right of appeal was not intended to be taken away in situations like this. After all, this righ....