Independent assessment discretion: unauthorised superior-officer consultation can invalidate regular scrutiny assessments by displacing the Assessing Officer's own judgment.

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....Regular scrutiny assessment under section 143(3) requires the Assessing Officer to exercise quasi-judicial discretion independently. Absent statutory authority, consultation with and prior approval from an Additional Commissioner during the assessment process constitutes unauthorised superior-officer participation and negates the Assessing Officer's independent application of mind. Such assessments are void ab initio and liable to be quashed. A superior officer may consult subordinates without displacing the superior officer's discretion, but subordinate consultation with a superior officer displaces the discretion vested exclusively in the Assessing Officer.....