The assessee’s assessment was completed by the Deputy Commissioner under section 143(3) pursuant to a notice under section 143(2) issued by an ITO, upheld by the CIT(A); the assessee’s additional ground before the Tribunal challenging the validity of this notice on jurisdictional grounds was admitted, being a legal issue going to the root of the matter. On appeal, the Tribunal held that, as per CBDT Instruction No. 1 of 2011, since the assessee’s declared income exceeded Rs. 20 lakhs and pertained to a non-corporate return, jurisdiction lay exclusively with the Deputy Commissioner and not the ITO who had issued the notice; since no order under section 127 transferring the case to the Deputy Commissioner was brought on record, and the officer completing the assessment ought also to have issued the jurisdictional notice, the notice under section 143(2) issued by the ITO was invalid, rendering the resultant defect incurable and the assessment liable to be quashed. (AY. 2014-15)