The draft assessment order, approval under section 153D and final assessment order in the assessee’s case formed part of several cases disposed of on the same day. The Tribunal held that the approval was granted mechanically without proper application of mind to the material on record. Since approval under section 153D is a mandatory safeguard and cannot be a mere ritual, the approval was invalid, rendering the assessment order void ab initio. The assessee raised additional legal grounds challenging the validity of the assessment. The Tribunal held that the additional grounds involved pure questions of law arising from the assessment proceedings, required no further investigation into facts and went to the root of the matter. Accordingly, they were admitted for adjudication  (AY. 2017-18).