Income Tax Proceedings cannot Survive if Empowering Notices have been Statutorily Quashed: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has ruled that Income Tax proceedings cannot survive if empowering notices have been statutorily quashed. This significant legal principle underscores the foundational importance of valid statutory notices for the initiation and continuation of tax assessment proceedings. If the original notices that grant jurisdiction to the tax authorities are found to be legally flawed and are quashed by a competent court, then any subsequent proceedings based on those invalid notices automatically become void. This decision protects taxpayers from arbitrary assessments and reinforces the necessity of strict adherence to procedural legality by tax authorities.