Mechanical approval under section 148B invalidates consequential assessments for want of application of mind

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....Approval under section 148B must reflect independent consideration of the draft assessment order, proposed additions and supporting material; a bare grant of approval is a mechanical exercise and invalid. The Tribunal held that the approving authority must indicate some application of mind in the approval record, failing which the safeguard becomes an empty formality. Applying that principle, it found the approvals in the connected matters invalid and treated the consequential assessments as non est in law, without examining the merits.....