ACIT Vs Bank of Baroda (e- Vijaya Bank) (ITAT Mumbai)
ITAT Mumbai quashed assessment order passed in the name of erstwhile Vijaya Bank (merged with Bank of Baroda w.e.f. 01.04.2019), holding that assessment framed on a non-existent entity is null & void in law. Tribunal observed that AO was fully aware of amalgamation during assessment proceedings, yet notices and final order were issued in the name of the amalgamating entity, rendering proceedings invalid.
The Bench distinguished Skylight Hospitality LLP and relied on Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and jurisdictional precedents to hold that defect was not curable u/s 292B since order itself was framed against a dead entity. It noted that assessee had informed AO about merger and filed replies in the name of Bank of Baroda, establishing Revenue’s knowledge of amalgamation.
Accordingly, impugned notice and assessment order were quashed, rendering other grounds academic. Assessee’s appeal allowed and Revenue’s cross appeal dismissed.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT MUMBAI
These captioned appeals are cross appeals filed by the assessee and the Revenue, challenging the order of the learned Commissioner of Income Tax Appeal, Mumbai (‘ld. CIT(A)’ for short), passed u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’), pertaining to the Assessment Year (‘A.Y.’ for short) 2019-20.
