Incomplete return rule and best judgment assessment: absence of C Forms did not trigger pre-assessment notice.

Under the Mysore Sales Tax Act, a return was not rendered incomplete merely because C Forms were not enclosed with it, since the governing rules permitted production of those forms any time before final assessment. Section 12(3) notice was required only where no return was filed, or where the return was incorrect or incomplete and assessment proceeded on a best judgment basis. Because the returns had been filed and were not treated as incomplete, and the assessments were not best judgment assessments, the statutory precondition for notice was absent. The assessments based on the returns were therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether an assessee who filed returns without enclosing C Forms was entitled to a notice under section 12(3) of the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957 before assessment, and whether such returns could be treated as incomplete so as to attract best judgment assessment.

Analysis: Section 12(3) applied only where no return was filed, or the return filed was incorrect or incomplete, and the assessment was made on best judgment basis. Here, returns had been submitted and were not treated by the assessing authority as incorrect or incomplete. Under rule 6(b) of the rules framed under the Act, C Forms could be furnished either with the return or at any time before final assessment, so the absence of the forms along with the return did not make the return incomplete. As the assessments were not best judgment assessments, the requirement of notice under section 12(3) was not attracted.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to a notice under section 12(3), and the assessments were valid.

Final Conclusion: The appeals failed because the statutory precondition for notice and best judgment assessment was absent, and the assessments based on the returns were upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A return is not incomplete merely because C Forms are not filed with it if the governing rules permit their production before final assessment, and section 12(3) applies only to incomplete returns assessed on best judgment basis.

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