Sanction authority centralization for reopening assessments shifts approval to Additional/Joint Commissioners, reducing prior higher level oversight.
Clause 284 appoints Additional Commissioners, Additional Directors, Joint Commissioners, or Joint Directors as the sole authorities to grant sanction for notices under sections 280 and 281, replacing the earlier tiered sanction regime. It removes temporal thresholds and higher level approvals formerly applied to older or complex cases, centralizes decision making, omits explanatory and delegation provisions present in the prior framework, and may therefore streamline administration while raising concerns about reduced oversight, interpretive ambiguity, and possible increased litigation.