Draft Assessment Order Regime: Navigating the Multi-tiered Assessment Process and Distinct Nature of Section 144C Assessments

Mandatory Draft Assessment Order under Section 144C preserves DRP review and invalidates final assessments issued without it.

Section 144C establishes a self-contained, multi-tiered assessment regime for international-transaction assessees in which the Dispute Resolution Panel exercises independent, enhanced review distinct from Section 144B. Framing the draft assessment order is an integral statutory step that preserves the assessee's right to challenge proposed findings; omission of that draft-stage procedure is therefore a substantive breach of the Section 144C code rather than a mere procedural irregularity. Remand under Section 153(6) does not revive assessments once the limitation periods in sub-sections (3) and (4) of Section 153 have expired.