Invalid service of income-tax notice led to assessment cancellation; no substantial question of law arose on the recorded facts.

Service of a notice under section 143(2) was held invalid where it was first delivered to a person unconnected with the assessee and later sent to an address different from the one furnished by the assessee. On those recorded facts, the Tribunal treated proper service as a factual issue and found that no substantial question of law arose from its cancellation of the assessments. The assessments were therefore upheld as cancelled, and the challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the notice under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was validly served, and whether any substantial question of law arose from the Tribunal's finding cancelling the assessments on that basis.

Analysis: The notice was first served on a person having no concern with the assessee and later sent to an address different from the one furnished by the assessee. On the Tribunal's recorded findings, the service of notice was not in accordance with the assessee's correct address. The validity of service in the given facts was treated as a pure question of fact, and no substantial question of law arose from the Tribunal's order.

Conclusion: The notice was not validly served, the assessments were rightly cancelled, and the appeals failed.

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