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TMI Blog2009 (8) TMI 641X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e provisions of Chapter XIV-B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). Suo motu proceedings under section 263 of the Act were initiated by the Commissioner of Income-tax in respect of the aforesaid assessments. While the proceedings were pending the assessees had filed appeals against the assessment orders passed by the primary authority. By different orders the Commissioner of Income-tax interfered with each of the assessment orders in exercise of powers under section 263 of the Act. Thereafter, the appeals filed by the assessees were closed as infructuous by separate orders passed. Aggrieved, the respondents-assessees instituted Appeals Nos. 2, 3, 9 and 10 (Gau) of 2004 against the orders passed under section 26 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the court to the fact that by the order dated July 8, 1999, by which the Assessing Officer Sri Dibyendu Kumar Deb was transferred from Shillong to Silchar, he was also allowed to hold the charge of the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax, Investigation Circle, Silchar in addition to his own duties. Sri Bhuyan has, therefore, urged that on the date when the assessment orders were passed the Assessing Officer was holding charge of the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax and, therefore, was competent to finalise the assessments in question. Sri Bhuyan has further submitted that the aforesaid fact, in spite of being on record, was overlooked and/or ignored by the learned Tribunal. Placing reliance on a judgment of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent by section 117(1) of the Act and exercise of powers of the office of the Assistant Commissioner by the Assessing Officer, in the instant case, was without any appointment by the Central Government, as required. It is, therefore, contended that the Assessing Officer was not legally competent to finalise the assessments for the block period. Jurisdiction having been exercised without authority of law, the assessment orders are a nullity, it is argued. 8. The rival submissions advanced on behalf of the parties have received the due and anxious consideration of the court. In the present cases, materials had been brought on record on behalf of the Department to show that the Assessing Officer, namely, Sri Dibyendu Kumar Deb, at the time of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its earlier decisions in Gokaraju Rangaraju v. State of Andhra Pradesh [1981] 3 SCC 132. 10. In the present cases, the Commissioner of Income-tax, who is one of the delegates mentioned in section 117(2) of the Act to exercise powers of appointment of the income-tax authorities below the rank of Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, had made an officiating arrangement vesting the powers of the Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax in the Assessing Officer, Sri Dibyendu Kumar Deb. The Assessing Officer was regularly promoted to the post of Assistant Commissioner on November 7, 2001, by orders made in the name of the President. For a period of over two years the Assessing Officer had exercised the powers of the Assistant Commissioner ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... can, therefore, be no manner of doubt that the Assessing Officer was competent in law to make the initial block assessments and the finding to the contrary recorded by the learned Tribunal, that too, by overlooking the materials available on record, is not legally sustainable. 11. We have noticed that in support of the challenge made in the appeals before the learned Tribunal several other issues on the merits were raised by the assessees. None of the aforesaid issues had been gone into by the learned Tribunal. This is on account of the fact that the learned Tribunal found fault with the exercise of jurisdiction by the Assessing Officer. Now that we have held the Assessing Officer to be legally competent to make the assessments in questio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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