Sunita Rao Vs ITO (ITAT Delhi)
Summary: The Tribunal allowed the assessee’s appeal and quashed the assessment order on the ground of lack of jurisdiction. The assessee raised an additional legal ground contending that no transfer order under Section 127 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was passed to shift jurisdiction from one Assessing Officer to another. The Department failed to produce any such order and merely argued that transfer powers are administrative and the objection was belated. The Tribunal held that a jurisdictional defect strikes at the root of the assessment and can be raised at any stage, even if delayed. It emphasized that Section 127 mandates a formal order for transfer of jurisdiction; absence of such an order means no valid transfer occurred. Consequently, the Assessing Officer lacked authority to pass the assessment order, rendering it void ab initio. Accordingly, the Tribunal admitted the additional ground and quashed the impugned assessment order.
Issue:-The core issue involved in the present case was whether an assessment framed under section 143(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by an Assessing Officer who did not possess valid jurisdiction, in the absence of an order passed under section 127 for transfer of jurisdiction, could be sustained in law. The question specifically examined was whether non-passing of a transfer order vitiates the entire assessment proceedings.
